A Welsh couple decided to install night cameras to catch the alleged vandals after they found trees in their garden that were cut down several times during the night they believed were machete blows. But the footage has revealed a startling discovery: A beaver that has been extinct for 400 years in the country has knocked down trees and now appears to have returned to live in the wild.
After beavers were hunted to extinction in the 16th century, they were gradually reintroduced to England as animals that were highly sought after for their fur, meat and oils from their scent glands. Since its first re-entry to Argyll, Scotland in 2009, few colonies have been established by wildlife associations. There are only three other places in the UK where wild beavers live. The couple who made the discovery and lived in Pembrokeshire named the Welsh beaver Anthony after military historian Antony Beevor.
The herbivore, which can weigh up to 30 pounds, has become “fat as a pig” as it spends up to six hours eating the trunks of its trees, the couple said. “Some of our trees started disappearing overnight and others were just falling apart. It looked like someone was hitting them with a machete,” they said. “There are no deer in Pembrokeshire, so we couldn’t figure out what was causing the damage. The only clues were a few teeth marks left in the bark,” they added. The couple purchased a £100 camera two weeks after noticing the damage and left it out overnight. “We couldn’t believe it,” they said of the discovery. “Since then the animal has cleared quite a few trees and branches.”
As The Guardian reports, Pembrokeshire’s closest official beaver colony is in the Dyfi Estuary, 50 miles north of the coast, where no escape has been reported. Since the first re-entry to Argyll in 2009, beaver numbers have increased in the UK thanks to containment colonies established by various wildlife communities. This is believed to be only the fourth time a beaver has been found in the wild in Britain. Alicia Leow-Dyke, beaver project manager at Wildlife Trusts Wales, said she was pleasantly surprised that the creature appeared to enjoy wildlife, but it was “a bit of a mystery” to figure out how it got there. The most likely hypothesis is that it was introduced by some re-wildlife enthusiasts who released the beavers in other parts of Great Britain for its positive effects on ecosystems.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
