Team caring for Worcestershire woodland 'ecstatic' over baby beaver births
Three new kits have been spotted on cameras in the enclosure at the Wyre Forest by the Forestry England team
The team in charge of looking after Worcestershire's Wyre Forest have said they're all delighted by the arrival of three new baby beavers to their woodland enclosure.
Forestry England have confirmed the sightings of the kits on cameras which are dotted around the five-hectare site they're based in.
It takes the total number of the mammal there up to nine, with the original family of two adults and four kits being there since they were reintroduced in April 2024.
Area forester from the Forestry England team, Richard Boles, said everyone was "extremely happy" when they caught a glimpse of them.
"We saw one of our video clips had one beaver, which that in itself was great, but she (mum) had four last time so it was like, that's quite sad that there's only one," he said.
"A week later or so we saw a video clip with two little kits in it, so we were even happier, and a week or so ago we saw a video clip of one of the adult beavers towing 3 kits across the little pond.
"So we're really ecstatic, there's always a chance there might be a fourth, but to at least have three kits is what we could have wished for and it's fantastic news."
The original group, which had celebrated their two-year anniversary in the enclosure earlier this year, were brought into the woodland as part of a joint project between Forestry England, Natural England and experts at the Beaver Trust.
It's being done to analyse and see how beavers can help restore wetlands and reduce the impact of flooding, with Mr Boles previously giving an update on the time of work they've been up to which has seen them remain busy.
On what the team will be doing to keep a check on the new arrivals, Mr Boles said: "We've got quite a few cameras down there so we look at those once a week, we get all the little video clips in together and have a look through and from that we can monitor the health of the beavers.
"Occasionally we still put out some food so we can get a better look at them with the apples on the spikes, so we'll monitor that and their health and that's the main way that we check on them.
"So we do it weekly, we have a look through and everything seems to be fine, and if we've got any queries or we're not certain about something we send the clips to the Beaver Trust."
Forestry England added the births were a "clear sign" that the beavers have settled well into their new home and are thriving in their carefully selected habitat.