A wild beaver has been spotted in Norfolk, England for the first time since the species was hunted to extinction in the early 16th century. Conservationists are both thrilled and completely baffled about where the mysterious animal came from. The solitary beaver was captured on night vision cameras dragging logs and establishing a lodge along the River Wensum at Pensthorpe Nature Reserve near Fakenham. Reserve manager Richard Spowage initially thought some small boy with an axe had somehow found his way into the isolated woodland area when he spotted freshly cut trees. After discovering classic beaver chips at the base of another tree, he set camera traps that revealed the elusive creature living its life after an absence of hundreds of years.
The beaver is believed to have been living in the deliberately wild section of the reserve for about a month, gathering willow branches and creating a food store for winter. Nobody knows whether it escaped from captivity, was secretly released by rewilding activists, or somehow traveled there naturally despite no known wild populations in Norfolk. Beavers are celebrated as ecosystem engineers whose dam building habits benefit other species, improve water retention, reduce flood risks, and restore rivers. Whether this beaver arrived by breaching a fence or traveling through waterways, Spowage says it’s a wild animal that has every right to be there and will be welcome to stay as long as it chooses.
