For the first time in more than 500 years, wild beaver kits have been born in Norfolk. Two beavers arrived at a nature reserve on the River Wensum and built a home there, and now their young are learning to swim, feed, and even tail-slap the water to scare off predators, all on their own in the wild. But, this new family faces a serious problem. With no other wild beavers nearby, these kits will grow up with no future mates beyond their own parents and siblings.
Sign the petition urging Natural England to approve and support funding for additional wild beaver introductions into the River Wensum, so this family has the chance to become a real, lasting population.
Beavers were hunted to extinction in England centuries ago, and their return has already started reshaping the landscape for the better. By clearing small amounts of woodland and digging shallow channels through the water, this family has opened up sunlight for plants to grow and created spaces where birds, otters, foxes, and deer now come to drink. Farmers who once feared beavers returning are beginning to see the benefits firsthand, with beaver-built water storage helping protect land during increasingly severe heatwaves.
Right now, this is a single family with nowhere to go and no one to expand with. Natural England has the power to change that by approving a wider reintroduction plan for the Wensum, giving these beavers the genetic diversity they need to grow into a stable, thriving population instead of a genetic dead end.
These beaver kits are proof that a species written off centuries ago can still come back. Sign the petition and demand Natural England support the reintroductions needed to help them thrive.
