First sightings of baby beavers born in North Cumbria
Beavers are breeding at Lowther Estate, with two kits born this summer
Cumbria Beaver Group (CBG) has announced the arrival of two beaver kits at the Lowther Estate near Penrith. It’s four years since a pair of Eurasian beavers, Glen and Dragonfly, were introduced here, in a licensed, enclosed scientific release. This appears to be the first time the beavers successfully bred, much to the delight of conservationists around the county.
It’s thought that the kits were born in May or June this year, but CBG has waited for the young family to establish itself and to ensure the kits were thriving, before they released footage of them, taken on camera traps.
Elizabeth Ogilvie, Ecologist at Lowther Estate said:
“It has been a joy to watch the beaver kits through the trail cameras this summer. This winter the beaver adults developed their 'lodge' and expanded their ponds, thus creating some wetland in the grassland part of the enclosure. Careful grazing with water buffalo, keeping the grass short, maintaining damp flushes and muddy edges, has also helped to foster a perfect habitat for lapwing who have bred in the area for the first time, alongside families of mallards, moorhens and greylags. In addition, we have spotted a number of bats on the trail cameras feeding on insects above the pools. None of this would have taken place if the beavers had not created the wetland habitat.”
David Harpley, Chair of Cumbria Beaver Group said:
“We’re delighted that the Lowther beavers have bred successfully this year and are rearing two kits, who seem to be doing very well. Since arriving at Lowther in 2020, beavers have been bringing a whole host of benefits to the wetland landscape. As well as helping biodiversity, people benefit from these ecosystem engineers too: by holding water back in the landscape, they reduce the risk of flooding downstream.
“Back in 2022 we welcomed the news that beavers in England will be given the protection they need and deserve through legislation. However, we’re still waiting for the Government to put in place the steps needed for their return, such as licences for beavers to be returned to the wild in England and the publishing of strategic plans to enable beavers to be reintroduced.”
The beavers at Lowther are in a fenced-in enclosure on the Lowther Estate and cannot be visited by members of the public. However, you can see video clips of the beaver family taken on the camera trap and follow their progress.
Beavers are a ‘keystone species’ and have a highly positive impact on their environment. These industrious herbivores are native to mainland Britain but were hunted to extinction in the 16th century by people who wanted their fur, meat, and scent glands. The end of beavers led to the loss of the mosaic of lakes, meres, mires, tarns, and boggy places that they were instrumental in creating.
The aim of Cumbria Beaver Group is to enable the well-planned and managed reintroduction of beavers to Cumbria, through the delivery and support of enclosed scientific beaver release trials, as well as community engagement and advocacy. In the long term, the group would like to see beavers return to Cumbria. However, it’s vital that any reintroduction is well planned, well managed and has the support of the local community.
Cumbria Beaver Group is made up of Cumbria Wildlife Trust, The RSPB, Lowther Estates and Eden Rivers Trust and is working in consultation with Natural England, the Environment Agency, United Utilities, Forestry England, the University of Cumbria and others.
ENDS
Notes to editors
PHOTO CREDIT:
Hero image - Mark Williamson photography
Elizabeth Ogilvie image - Mark Williamson photography
Beaver image - Ray Lewis - Kent Wildlife Trust
CONTACT:
Rose Welshman, Communications Officer, Cumbria Wildlife Trust on 01539 816311, email rosew@cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk (Weds-Thurs)
Charlotte Rowley, Head of Marketing and Communications, Cumbria Wildlife Trust on 01539 816313, email charlotter@cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk
Bailey Lamburn, Communications Manager, Cumbria Connect bailey.lamburn@rspb.org.uk
NOTES
Cumbria Beaver Group is made up of Cumbria Wildlife Trust, The RSPB, Lowther Estates and Eden Rivers Trust and is working in consultation with Natural England, the Environment Agency, United Utilities, Forestry England, the University of Cumbria and others.
Cumbria Beaver Group exists to support and inform a number of trial enclosed releases of beavers in the county of Cumbria, to educate and inspire the public about beavers, and pending a ministerial decision regarding the future status of beavers in England, to promote sensible strategies for beaver management in the longer term. Find out more at https://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/beavers
Cumbria Wildlife Trust cares passionately about wildlife and wild places – we’re here to put wildlife back into our land and seascapes to make Cumbria a wilder county with more space for nature. We restore and connect wild places, work with nature to tackle the climate emergency and support people to take local action for wildlife.
With a dedicated team of skilled and professional staff working closely with volunteers, partners and thousands of supporters, together we’re creating a wilder future for Cumbria.
We are part of a UK-wide grassroots movement made up of 46 individual Wildlife Trusts who all believe that we need nature and nature needs us.
Cumbria Connect is a pioneering collaboration between the RSPB, United Utilities, Lowther Estates and Natural England, formed in 2023. Backed by £4.1 million funding from the Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme, this initiative aims to restore nature across 42,000 hectares of Eastern Cumbria encompassing the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks.
Through nature-friendly farming and habitat restoration, Cumbria Connect seeks to create one of the UK’s largest nature recovery programs. For the benefit of nature and people, this endeavour involves reintroducing endangered species like water voles and black grouse, addressing habitat loss, engaging local communities in sustainable land management and supporting a local economy that embraces its close connection to nature.
We work alongside Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Eden Rivers Trust, Lune Rivers Trust, The Environment Agency, Woodland Trust, Ernest Cook Trust, Orton Fells Farm Cluster, Plantlife and several universities across the UK to deliver nature restoration projects at a landscape scale.
Beaver facts
- Eurasian beavers are native to Britain but were wiped out in the 16th century, mainly due to hunting.
- Beavers can provide a range of environmental and socio-economic benefits. These include flood risk alleviation, improved water quality, habitat creation for other wildlife and increase revenue for the local economy through nature-based tourism.
- The UK’s largest rodent, the Eurasian beaver has a flat tail and webbed feet, and is well-suited to a semi-aquatic lifestyle.
- As large as a Labrador dog, but with shorter legs, the Eurasian beaver is robust and heavily built. Two distinctive features are a broad, flat tail, covered with scales, and webbed feet. It has small eyes and ears, and light brown fur.
- Measures 70-100cm in length (the tail is 30-40cm); its average lifespan is 10-15 years.
- Beavers are completely vegetarian and do NOT eat fish. In late spring and summer, it eats mainly aquatic plants, grasses, ferns and shrubs, but at other times, woody species form the major part of its diet.
- Beavers live in family groups with an average of about five individuals, comprising adults, kits and yearlings.
- Females produce a single litter of one to six kits per year (average about 3).
- Beavers are semi-aquatic, mostly active at dawn and dusk, and do not hibernate.
- Small numbers of beavers have been reintroduced to locations in England and Scotland from mainland Europe.