10 hours agoTom Edwards,Environment correspondent, London, @BBCTomEdwards PAThe UK’s first urban beavers were introduced into a west London nature reserve back in October. The family of five are part of a project that aims to get the public to engage with nature, to study biodiversity improvements and to monitor flood mitigation effects. Seven months on, how is it faring?It is perfect weather for beavers. The rain is incessant as we trudge past the trees and through the long grass and into their habitat. But the rain cannot stop the wonder and enthusiasm for what is happening here.This is Paradise Fields in Greenford in Ealing. It is a nature reserve next to a retail estate but it’s where seven months ago beavers were introduced. This is now very much their home and they are transforming the habitat.They are so happy that the volunteers here think the beavers may be breeding, and offspring – or kits as they are known – might be on the way. We are with Dr Sean McCormack who has been one of the driving forces behind the scheme.He takes us to one of the beavers’ five dams here, where they have cut back trees and twigs and dredged the mud to create large pools. “This is the first dam they created in the system, the first one of five,” Dr McCormack says. “The reason they have created it here is to create some deep water before they have to cross the Capital Ring footpath which runs through the site. “To a beaver they don’t know if there’s a bear, a wolf, a lynx around every corner. It’s their instinct to create deep water so they feel safe. They’re basically checking that the coast is clear upstream here.”The dams also filter the water. The deep pools mean the beavers can dive down and avoid predators. They can stay under the water for 15 minutes.This family of five beavers soon got to work here after their introduction seven months ago. You can hear the road and see high-rise flats from their new home, which is right on the Capital Ring footpath, but none of this seems to have bothered the beavers. They have created canals so they can easily transport logs on the water. It’s no surprise they are called nature’s engineers; the whole area is changing. Dr McCormack says more good news could be on the way: “All the evidence says that they’re doing just great and have settled in well. We have seen all five of them in the early mornings and late evening.”And we even have an inkling that there might be some babies in the lodge. That’s the ultimate test of them being happy here; we anticipate they might appear at the end of the summer.” Ealing Beaver ProjectBeavers mainly only come out of their lodge at dawn and dusk and that means they can be hard to spot. However, the volunteers have used motion cameras to capture the beavers working. Ealing Beaver Project Nadya Mirochnitchenko, the eco …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nn10 hours agoTom Edwards,Environment correspondent, London, @BBCTomEdwards PAThe UK’s first urban beavers were introduced into a west London nature reserve back in October. The family of five are part of a project that aims to get the public to engage with nature, to study biodiversity improvements and to monitor flood mitigation effects. Seven months on, how is it faring?It is perfect weather for beavers. The rain is incessant as we trudge past the trees and through the long grass and into their habitat. But the rain cannot stop the wonder and enthusiasm for what is happening here.This is Paradise Fields in Greenford in Ealing. It is a nature reserve next to a retail estate but it’s where seven months ago beavers were introduced. This is now very much their home and they are transforming the habitat.They are so happy that the volunteers here think the beavers may be breeding, and offspring – or kits as they are known – might be on the way. We are with Dr Sean McCormack who has been one of the driving forces behind the scheme.He takes us to one of the beavers’ five dams here, where they have cut back trees and twigs and dredged the mud to create large pools. “This is the first dam they created in the system, the first one of five,” Dr McCormack says. “The reason they have created it here is to create some deep water before they have to cross the Capital Ring footpath which runs through the site. “To a beaver they don’t know if there’s a bear, a wolf, a lynx around every corner. It’s their instinct to create deep water so they feel safe. They’re basically checking that the coast is clear upstream here.”The dams also filter the water. The deep pools mean the beavers can dive down and avoid predators. They can stay under the water for 15 minutes.This family of five beavers soon got to work here after their introduction seven months ago. You can hear the road and see high-rise flats from their new home, which is right on the Capital Ring footpath, but none of this seems to have bothered the beavers. They have created canals so they can easily transport logs on the water. It’s no surprise they are called nature’s engineers; the whole area is changing. Dr McCormack says more good news could be on the way: “All the evidence says that they’re doing just great and have settled in well. We have seen all five of them in the early mornings and late evening.”And we even have an inkling that there might be some babies in the lodge. That’s the ultimate test of them being happy here; we anticipate they might appear at the end of the summer.” Ealing Beaver ProjectBeavers mainly only come out of their lodge at dawn and dusk and that means they can be hard to spot. However, the volunteers have used motion cameras to capture the beavers working. Ealing Beaver Project Nadya Mirochnitchenko, the eco …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
