Beavers will Transform London - here's how 

..all good, until the foreign folk start trapping and eating them.. and dont tell me it dont happen, i know its happening.. also, where are all the swans going??

This is 100% true - pretty sure we’re set to have record temperatures again following last years sustained droughts - places with beavers I know for a fact stayed wet!!

@@LeaveCurious How does the fact that water levels are permanently raised , control flooding? When flood water reaches an already full area it surely just overtops quickly? Choking drains on arable land is definitely not a gain either.

@@auldfouter8661 So beaver dams hold back water, but not entireley, so when there is high rain fall not only will more of it gather and spread on site but it will trickle through much more slowly than it would of done without it - sure if it was reeeeally heavy then it could break the dams and come through, but so far the evidence shows they're good at what they do.

@@auldfouter8661 Just an educated guess, but I assume that the ground is more capable of absorbing water if there is allready some moisture present. I could imagine that after a drought the ground needs time before a lot of water can be absorbed as it might be kind of sealed? Dam might prevent this as more water is present in the system?

I've watched numerous RU-vid videos of what beavers do in the USA and Canada. They regularly cause flooding of roads necessitating the removal of their dams.

It would make a really nice children's books on rewilding actually...

Wonder if they will be getting drunk and begging on the streets like the other Scot’s moving to London.

Yeah doesn't sound like too much space, but goes to show what a pair of beavers can do. There must of been a river or running water nearby for them to have access?

Thank you Annie, theres a lot of many good reasons to have hope and I'll do my best to share them with you! Cheers!

Yeah urban rewilding is always really interesting - its important to remember rewilding isn't just for large open expanses, it must be something we can do in our cities too.

We shouldn't be rewilding beavers to benefit humans! That is not the point!

I’m sure there’s plenty of suitable places in Scotland too and across the rest of the UK. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more and more translocated beavers!

Scotland is good for beavers, but there are some landowners and farmers complaining about the beaver introductions in their areas. They took to shooting the beavers almost as soon as the beavers had arrived..

There is a strong introduction project but it faced a lot of opposition with landowners who are frightful of losing productive land in the bank of rivers due to the beavers, this lead to the horrible and useless agreement that a landowner or town population can demand a beaver be translocated if they feel like it's causing any damage, of course this ignores that most landowners don't know the benefits of having beaver and will therefore be against them from the start

@@Solstice261 Have you any idea of the cost of installing a field drainage system , which arable land can't function without ? The beavers cause the drains to silt up by raising water levels above the drain outfalls.

@@auldfouter8661 No one is saying that they aren't a bother or expensive, but if it were always what is cheaper then we should kill all deer, flies,bees etc. And before you know it you've driven your ecosystem to collapse, haven't you thought it's odd that agriculture needs subsidies, since it does. Because it does and farmers need them, then farmers must also bend to offer a bit of space for biodiversity, even if it isn't beneficial in the short term, it helps a lot on the long term, specially if you start working with it in mind instead of actively against it. If you still think getting rid of anything that gets in the way of short term profit is the answer, then I am sorry for you as your system inevitably ends up with the collapse of the sector you are trying to defend

That’s awesome! I wish you the best with your studies and keep finding ways to enjoy and of course learn, I encourage you to look into Ecology Training and see what they can offer you!

Is the harm of invasive species like grey squirrels and signal crayfish taught on your course ? Grey squirrels kill more native birds than domestic cats.

Ah thank you Niels! What city are you from? I'm going to making some travels soon to see some urban beavers!

@@LeaveCurious Nijmegen, the Netherlands! Certain areas in my city have been built on old swamps and marshes and the developments from the 60's and later generally take this into consideration, leaving intact small waterways and patches of old trees. Knowing you can always encounter beavers, owls and other birds of prey really adds something to the neighborhood!

I certainly will, there'll likely be another video on the project later this year! Cheers

Yeah, let's turn the place into a zoo.

Cheers Paul, its really encouraging. I think if beavers can make it make to public spaces in London, they can do it anywhere.

Me too! Its going to be very cool to see what they do! Cheers

Thanks for the recommend, I’ll take a look!

Yeah its frustrating, but for now this is our best options of getting beavers in places they're needed and are going to be safe. Cheers!

@@LeaveCurious yeah that's it atleast they aren't culling them would love to see some in the wild in UK.

Yes! It very exciting :) Cheers

Yeah I think its pretty cool that beavers will be coming from likely one of the least most populated places in the UK to one of the densest!

Well, its been a while since you day has been made... sorry for the lack of uploads here, but I will be uploading much more consistently from now! Cheers!

Its really exciting news, ill have to check WWT centre out! Sounds like it be suitable though!

Now thats a London I'd like to visit, cheers Matt!

Yeah urban rewilding is so important, can’t wait to see what comes of it

Thanking you Berry!!!

Cheers Patrik!!!

Yeah exactly moving beavers around just seems super logical on all fronts. I bet theres many people/ecologists willing to get into that job too.

Brilliant steps in the right direction! Can’t wait to see the beavers arrive here 🦫

@@LeaveCurious Yes ! Thank you Rob 👍🏼👍🏼

The fact you think more care needs to be taken about rewilding the land and introducing beavers, but dont give a shit about the damage humans are doing, is so expected from a close minded human it's almost boring at this point. Furthermore, you know nothing about beavers, literally nothing, as you would know that beavers don't decimate forreats, they only fell trees to build or maintain their dams, and the trees they fell open up the canopy in the Forrest, allowing sunlight to hit the Forrest floor and encouraging new growth of all sorts of flowers and trees. Please don't be so cocksure in your ignorance, you just embarrasse yourself

Yeah it’s going to be interesting to see what the public think after they arrive!

I think so too!!

Yeah I’ll do my best from now on to post more consistently. I also have a BTS vlog accessible to RU-vid members

OK I totally just read the answers to my questions in the other comments.. so I'll just Leave it at Good Luck furry friends!

Water quality is good for beavers! It was fine habitat for them, its just the impact of their dam building and flooding fields or other areas which people do not want flooded or perhaps felling and damage trees that landowners wish to keep.

@@LeaveCurious Ah sweet. The current of re-wilding will only flow stronger over time and the benefits will be felt by all. Peace from the neo-tropical realm

Thank you very much, appreciate the support!

Dogs will be allowed I believe, they will just have to be on leads.

You can allow hunting when populations get high enough, landowners have a bad tendency of overhunting game when it's useful, by the way, why would the plan be to hunt beavers in this project, I know their fur is considered a commodity but I don't really recall a lot of commercial beaver hunting in this century

Overpopulation. They need a predator or disease and starvation will do the job for you. Hopefully be a few years away.

Hunting beavers due to high numbers is something which will not be happening in the UK for a very very long time. Moving the beavers to more suitable locations is something that I think we will see happening a lot more.

@@LeaveCurious wouldn't it make more sense to introduce a natural predator instead of hunting, it would be very hard to control population when you can no longer translocate them without using cruel methods such as traps, may I ask how it's decided where a beaver will be transferred and how do they make sure they adapt to their new environment

​@@Solstice261 Good luck with that. When you see how much fuss people make about re-introducing beavers, I can't see you convincing them to let in the odd wolf to control them! I wonder if Lynx ever prey on beaver? There is a (faint) chance that the animal-loving British public might tolerate them.

100% it’s the blend we need

So how does a beaver dam prevent flooding? If The dam is built across a flowing stream and water then backs up behind the dam until the dammed area reaches full capacity then any more water obviously just flows on down stream . In the event of a storm the beaver pond is already full and the extra water from the storm just goes straight over the top of the dam and on downstream just the same as it would without the dam

The whispers are true!! Cheers Chris

Yes! Its really cool. Keep out for more videos on this project later in the year.

@@LeaveCurious I'll stay tuned!

Yes, beavers will have to be relocated as they mature. A price to pay when working in enclosures, hopefully it changes and the beavers can naturally disperse.

@@LeaveCurious really appreciate the response, thank you and good luck! Hopefully any kits would go on to be part of any other projects in the UK

No it doesn’t

@@lucylane7397 Huh???

Otters already live in the UK

@@KodaCreatez I was today years old when I found out adorableness was only just outside, why am I only just now learning of this?

@@enoughofyourkoicarp probably because we mostly have a species of river otter (I don't know their common name right now but knowing us they're probably called the European Otter or something similar) instead of sea otters (the ones you're probably thinking of (I don't believe we get the fluffy menaces here because we don't have many if any kelp forests near us)) I like to describe river otters as a whole as Minks someone dropped in the water that now refuse to leave said water

@@KodaCreatez I just looked them up on the woodland trust website, they're still unreasonably adorable.

Thank you!!!

We sure do! Thank you!

I believe the main difference are size rather than in behaviour. The european beaver is slightly bigger!

Yes they'll be european beavers, I don't know about any american beavers being part of UK projects thought!

Sadly as has happened in a lot of other beaver reintroductions it's very likely people won't like the increase in deadwood and farmers will just hate them for doing something they feel they should be allowed to do( control the rivers as they wish for their own purposes) I wouldn't be too shocked if after a couple of months a beaver head appears somewhere

After speaking with Sean and understanding whats been done and what will be done for the safety of the beavers, this feels like an unlikely outcome. I do appreciate that anything can happen, but a certain level of cautious trust must be in place. Beavers are quite savvy creatures and always give themselves a retreat into deep water. Plus they're crepuscular / nocturnal, so during the day people are very unlikely to interact with them.

@@LeaveCurious nice to know the project has made sure locals are in favour and the animals will be in no danger

I will ask him and get back to you!

Sean here, it’s a t-shirt of a Water Vole from The Wildlife Trusts!

@@EalingWildlifeGroup Thank you!

Real nice!!!

Hey I’m Rob - this is my channel! Been uploading here for a few years. I’ve started working at Mossy Earth over this past year! Not sure what needs to be addressed, but happy to answer any questions

Nope no beavers currently on the Thames! Give it time though….

Pretty sure most if not all of the rivers in the UK used to have beavers in them, unfortunately a lot of animal species including beavers were hunted to extinction or at least severely depleted over the last couple hundred years. Projects like this are aimed at returning many of these species in a manner where they can coexist alongside humans.

​@@masqueradis6925 except right now reintroductions face a lot of challenges from the population which has become unaccustomed to living with a lot of different species leading most reintroduction projects to being more of a showing people what animals are planned for the future and starting to adapt to live with them in a very controlled environment, so more like a zoo, but give it some time and proper reintroductions with free roaming animals will happen

I believe they will be translocated to other sites as they will eventually need to find their own territory. We’ll cover this in part two of this project!!

@@LeaveCurious I was wondering about this too. Or more specificly about the dangers of inbreeding with just one family of beavers in an enclosed location...

@@peterloos1 Any offspring who aren't part of the core family unit will be moved on to other locations!

the idea that beavers are detrimental to woodland ecosystems is a myth - yes they fell trees, but fallen trees, dead trees are immensely valuable to wildlife. plus beavers don't fell every tree, they might do the odd big one, but they typically go for the smaller growth, species like willow that grow back very quickly from shoots.

👀 … can’t say I’ve seen any

i doubt it, but give them time.

I think every effort should be made to accommodate beavers as they can be real assets to farmers too, but when it doesn’t work, having a safe place for them to go is the next best thing!

​@@LeaveCurious but a lot of the time it does work and farmers are just hating beavers because of the prejudice they already have over them, or because the want to be able to manage the river, both attitudes a farmer shouldn't, shouldn't we be promoting farmers that are in contact with the nature in their land instead of giving leeway to those that only see it for its productive value and are ready to not leave anything wild even if it helps them (it has been proven thet areas with beavers have a better fertility) it's important to try to help and reach an agreement with the land-owners but that shouldn't be stoping the project

They might welcome us into their lodges for less.

I liked it because it was exactly what you expect to find in an urban area!

@@LeaveCurious Fair enough!

This location is prefect for beavers, as is the wider landscape around it. Cities need beavers just as much as rural areas.

Beavers are cool, kinda frustrating they introduced otters in my area, without really thinking it through,,like literally they plonked them in the river, without regard to the already dwindling fish stocks, and their migration. Like, they're protected, but don't have the curtesy to provide help with private lakes to keep them out, just kind of a oh well, attitude

Yeeeeaaahhh sorry about that. I have a plan to and will do my best to stay consistent now!

​@@LeaveCurious nothing to be sorry for you do good work educating people about nature and rewilding. I'm sorry if it sounded like I was being rude with the "long time no see" thing

I understand that this is not ideal, but this is a first step. It’s better than the alternative for London, which is doing nothing. Beavers in London is huge, they’ll get busy rewilding the enclosure, people will see it and before long once legislations change in favour of more wild beavers in England, these London beavers will be in position to start a proper wild population within London. Let’s not limited the idea of rewilding!

I see it as useful as a study on the advantages and disadvantages

oh no the mass murdering beavers are on the loose

@@LeaveCurious Your comment only serves to display your lack of imagination. Murder is not the only damage living creatures can inflict. Perhaps, if you grit your teeth and strain very very hard you can think of something. Give it a try. (fat chance).

@@LordOfLight haha i was only joking. sure beavers can flood areas and damage trees.

@@LeaveCurious I understand they also bite people. Perhaps Londoners care not for this. I suspect they do.

@@LordOfLighthow often does THAT happen? Y’all get bit by beaver’s across the pond?!?! Oh my.

well, if theres trees and plants down there, then I don't see why they wouldnt

@@LeaveCurious it honestly wouldn’t surprise me if there somehow were.

Yeah, these translocations are really the best method. Hopefully more opportunities open up in England for wild reintroductions, that would be epic

We have the answers now which is beavers can be translocated to more suitable places. It’s happening now. Over the next few years it’s very likely that beavers will be accepted in more wild areas through the UK. There’s no reason why they couldn’t thrive in London. Many other cities throughout Europe have beavers.

It’s a much worse problem when there are no beavers 🦫 present rather than too many. Too many can easily be trapped and relocated. Not enough means environmental disasters occur more frequently causing ripple effects of damage.

@@Ghost-Mama Not necessarily so with respect I would beg to disagree. If we look at our rivers logically and clear the lower levels and reallocate restrictions in flow such as in the Withy in Lincolnshire, of which I am not a resident we would free the lower flow. This would allow the dispersal of flow from urban areas. It would be assisted if the EA and Water authorities had to rebuild the subsiding river banks to the original levels not just the gaps to existing levels. At that point we can then look to mitigate the upland flow by controlled restriction which will not vary will natural vagaries. It will not be an immediate or an inexpensive solution but it does have the ability to be a controlled solution which will allow home owners, businesses and the agricultural community to all contribute to the national wellbeing rather than drown us all and blame the weather and argue about fur hats! Sorry Mr Bever!

@@glynluff2595 don’t be silly. Beavers 🦫 understand nature and how to reroute water passages around area’s where as people don’t. Those village idiots build communities in the lowlands that are prone to natural flooding and then cry when they get flooded out by nature. It’s not the beavers fault that the people are stupid. How smart is it to build your home in the middle of the mud puddle? I do believe that beaver’s are smarter than people and they don’t seem to want to kill us all which means they aren’t out to get you.

@@Ghost-Mama oh so you are like me and live on a hill? Well not all can have that privilege and what you Have to remember is the E A have to protect houses then businesses and only then some farmland which feeds us all. Beavers are not smarter they are just building for protection. The Americans consider they raise a dam 18 “ per year but the limit seems to be about 9ft before collapse comes about. However, there are problems in that they will wall in spill ways, conduits and drains which puts them in contention and there is the current case of the Scottish farm which has flooding which will cost supposedly over a million £ to fix and has to bear it themselves. I know no more than that. If this is so you can understand that there must be a community means to fix such damage. If you owned the land you would be fairly hacked off! As for their personal habits well nature is nature and I have little doubt that a pretty Miss beaver will have a couple of males becoming fairly argumentative! As for the mud puddle there are a number of areas of Britain whose product we are very grateful for that exist on land below sea level. We cannot walk away from that problem. Remember that the whole of the East Coast of Britain tilts downward at the rate of 1/8 “ per year while the Pennines rise so in my lifetime the East Coast has sunk 9 1/2 “. This means that the water structure alters as well as the flooding prevention. I do remember 1953 and hope it is never repeated but it could well be. We build for once in a hundred years but when it happens the clock is Reset so it could happen three year’s running! Yes a lot of people find that difficult but state education was good in the fifties and sixties and we were taught these things!

That’s a very good point, beaver ponds will help us immensely with climate change