"After 400 Years, Beavers Allowed Back In The Wild In England For Good"

"LONDON - The first beavers to live naturally in the wild in England for over 400 years have been given the green light to stay after a five-year trial showed their dam-building activities were good for wildlife and people.

Beavers, semi-aquatic vegetarian mammals, were hunted to extinction in Britain more than four centuries ago because people wanted their meat, fur and castoreum, a secretion that was used in medicine and perfumes.

But in 2013 a family of beavers was found to be living on the River Otter in Devon, a rural county in southwest England. It is not clear where the beavers came from and at first they were threatened with eviction."

Estelle Shirbon reports for Reuters August 6, 2020.

Source: Reuters, 08/07/2020