Thursday 7th April marks National Beaver Day and what better day to remind ourselves that Cheshire has its very own pair of Eurasian beavers.
In November 2020, Cheshire Wildlife Trust released a pair of Eurasian beavers into a 4.5-hectare enclosure at Hatchmere Nature Reserve near Delamere Forest. Following the Trust’s appeal to bring them back to the county after a 400-year absence, over half of the £85,000 that was needed was raised by members of the public. Bringing beavers back to Cheshire is part of an ambitious five-year project to prove that beavers are fantastic for nature in the UK.
Hatchmere’s precious wetlands are dying, but the beavers can help save these special habitats. The Trust has every hope that this exciting five-year project will pave the way for further beaver reintroductions in Cheshire and across the UK.
Senior Living Landscape Officer, Kevin Feeney said: “The beavers, which were named Willow and Rowan by the public last year, have been extremely busy since their release in 2020. They’ve been felling trees, creating lodges and building numerous dams. The work they have been doing is incredible and is already starting to make a difference for nature at Hatchmere. Their release site is now completely unrecognisable to how it was before them, with new animals moving in all the time. Who knows, we may even see kits this year!”
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Posted On: 07/04/2022