Shrewsbury beaver family 'very healthy' and busy building dams

{'text': '2 hours ago'}

{'text': 'Ellen Knightin Shrewsbury'}

{'text': 'The beavers have been enjoying life in their Shropshire home'}

{'text': 'A family of beavers is "very healthy" and "enjoying" life in the Midlands, just over a year after they were reintroduced to the area.'}

{'text': '"There is still a lot of management that comes with having beavers," said Mia Clement, from Shropshire Wildlife Trust, but "we\'re hoping that eventually the site\'s going to look after itself."'}

{'text': 'The river bed, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), "has always been a fen wetland," Clement said.'}

{'text': '"But before the beavers, we had this worry of the fast-growing willow... that was starting to dry it out a bit too much," she explained.'}

{'text': 'An alternative solution using cattle to graze the site was tried, but "cows hate getting their feet wet, so it wasn\'t really working," Clement said.'}

{'text': '"The obvious solution was to get some ecosystem engineers that love getting wet - which is the beavers."'}

{'text': 'Possible second pregnancy'}

{'text': 'Just over a year after the release, Clement and her colleagues have "seen the beginnings of some beaver pools" and "the beginnings of a dam" around the animals\' lodge.'}

{'text': 'The dam "deepens the water" and protects the beavers from predators, "but at the same time they\'re making sure this old river bed is staying wet."'}

{'text': 'The kit, whose birth was announced last December, is showing "really positive signs".'}

{'text': '"We\'re always seeing them go back and forth, collecting wood, chewing together as you do with your parents, and they\'re all very healthy," Clement added.'}

{'text': 'There is now even the possibility of a second beaver to be born into the family.'}

{'text': '"At this time of the year, it\'s quite likely that [Beryl] might be pregnant again," Clement said.'}

{'text': 'Ellen Knight/BBC'}

{'text': 'Mia Clement said she can "connect more to nature" thanks to the increased biodiversity that has come with the beavers\' arrival'}

{'text': 'Regular visitors of the site will have noticed footpaths getting boggy - and parts of the boardwalk across the water occasionally submerged.'}

{'text': 'Clement explained the excess water was primarily due to "a very, very wet winter."'}

{'text': 'Other visible - and audible - changes can be spotted in the site\'s wildlife population, which is growing in numbers "because the site is wetter."'}

{'text': '"We don\'t have as much reeds coming through," Clement said, adding that the likes of coots, geese, and ducks were thriving in the water.'}

{'text': '"That sensory experience at the Old River Bed I think has changed quite a bit," they noted.'}

{'text': '"I feel like I can connect to nature even more ever since Beryl and Bertie have been here."'}

{'text': 'Beaver Trust'}

{'text': 'Dr Roisin Campbell-Palmer has carried out health screenings of the beavers'}

{'text': 'Dr Roisin Campbell-Palmer is the head of restoration at the Beaver Trust - and had the daunting task of transporting the two pairs from Scotland to Shropshire.'}

{'text': '"In some circumstances and under certain criteria, we have to trap and relocate animals," she explained.'}

{'text': 'There are "many layers to beaver restoration, and they can bring a lot of benefits" like boosting biodiversity, she added.'}

{'text': '"They act like a keystone species and can really help shape freshwater ecosystems," Campbell-Palmer explained.'}

{'text': 'Ellen Knight/BBC'}

{'text': 'Parts of the boardwalk are occasionally submerged due to higher water levels following the introduction of the beavers in Shrewsbury'}

{'text': 'Beavers "create whole series of complex wetlands, which are sometimes lacking in some of landscapes," she said.'}

{'text': '"They can deliver what we call nature-based solutions, which can help against flooding," she added, noting that "people think they create dams, so they must create floods."'}

{'text': 'But some flooding is caused when "water is coming too fast off our landscapes," she explained.'}

{'text': 'The dams built by beavers can "hold water back" and "leak water out slowly more like a sponge" during flooding.'}

{'text': '"This is why we\'re really keen that they are part of our water management and integral part of our freshwater systems again, because it can actually alleviate floods."'}