British baby beaver boom brings benefits

Baby beavers have been born in London for the first time in 400 years. Last October a family of five Eurasian beavers was introduced to a nature reserve in Ealing and now two babies – known as kits – have been spotted in the area. They’re part of a wider resurgence of beaver populations across Britain, with new kits emerging from river lodges in the Cairngorms, Canterbury and Northumberland. After being hunted to (local) extinction for their fur, meat and scent oil, the species was reintroduced to the UK in 2002, and there are now about 1,500 beavers in Scotland and between 600 and 800 in England. The reserve at Paradise Fields in Ealing is minutes from a McDonald's drive-thru and a TK Maxx, but that doesn’t seem to have bothered the new rodent residents, who’ve built six dams and two lodges. Researchers at the Ealing Beaver Project say their presence has already improved water quality and reduced flooding.