It's a beaver baby boom in Britain, as newborns pop up across the country, including areas where these animals have been extinct for hundreds of years.
Two kits were recently born in the upper River Spey catchment in the Cairngorms, a Scottish mountain range. This made them the first wild-born beavers there in centuries, the Guardian reported.
"This is a really exciting milestone in our project to bring beavers back," Sarah Henshall, with the Cairngorms National Park Authority, told the publication.
This is big news for Britain's beaver believers. Until about 40 years ago, these dam-building rodents had been extinct in the wild there for 400 years, having been hunted down for their meat, fur, and scent oil, the Guardian explained. Thanks to dedicated reintroduction efforts, there are now around 1,500 in Scotland and 600 to 800 in England.
Beavers are an important ally to humans as we face a warming world that carries increased risks of catastrophes like flooding and wildfires. Mounting evidence suggests that these ecosystem engineers help to reduce the risk of flooding, drought, and wildfire, per the London School of Economics and Political Science. In fact, U.S. researchers are working on an algorithm that will help them estimate beaver populations and calculate their ecosystem services, such as firefighting.
Plus, the Wildlife Trusts says beavers' ecosystem services also include reducing siltation, which pollutes water. The organization adds that they also help maintain wetland habitats, which serve a vital role in the climate crisis, as they store planet-heating carbon gas.
Already, conservationists are seeing positive results from beaver reintroduction efforts in one region of Scotland — 15 years after reintroducing them to a Knapdale rainforest, scientists say the beavers may have created the right environment for endangered water voles to flourish.
Across Britain, it appears that conservationists are thrilled with the recent success of beaver reintroduction.
"Beavers are an important animal we once lived alongside up and down the country and welcoming them back, even to our towns and cities, is the right thing to do," Sean McCormack of the Ealing Beaver Project told the Guardian.
Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
