Reintroductions

[Amber]

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Beavers 'helping frogs survive'

We're trying reintroductions of Wolf, Lynx and boar, should the beaver be given a shot at returning to the wild?

As the above report states, the work a beaver does appears to be conducive to amphibian survival and expansion - a good thing when a large number of native species are close to the brink.

But, thinking sideways now, could careful positioning of release points actually help man too? With their dams and subsequent change to waterflow rates, in certain areas where river levels combined with high rainfall, would dams help alleviate flooding problems?

[Paul mabbott]

I thought that they had already been reintroduced in Scotland but can find no confirmation of this.
The Scottish Beavers Network Home Page
There is a very good case for reintroduing them - the only problem seems to lay with landowners who don't want their salmon fishing interfered with!

One thing, when considering pros and cons, the North American beaver is a different beast from the European one - so any American experiences are irrelevent - unless some fool brings one of them in!

[nightshade]

With all the land capable of supporting these animals being in private hands
and the income from it derived from hunting shooting or fishing it looks to be
a non starter

[Billy Wobble Dagger]

Six were released in Gloucestershire into a large enclosure about 18 months ago. I think it was a trail to see how they would cope in the UK. I have no more details, I will go a hunting on the tinternet and see what I can find.

BWD

[Amber]

Would be interesting to find out - I forgot about private landowners and the love of the folding stuff! Maybe eco-tourism within the UK needs to be promoted!

[aeshna5]

There were plans for an experimental release in Scotland but these plans were thwarted by the Scottish parliament after lobbying from a few wealthy landowners. If we can't get Beaver re-introduced I don't have much hope for any of our extinct carnivores being legally re-introduced, though I would suggest there's certainly a case for Lynx to be brought back.

The Wild Boar which seem to be doing very well in many southern counties weren't part of an official re-introduction scheme- which I doubt would have been sanctioned, but result from escaped animals + illegal releases. However I'm pleased they're back!

Interesting about Canadian Beaver helping amphibia, but this is a different species to the European Beaver, which rightly belongs here, though the advantages may be similar for wetland ecology. I know the Kent Wildlife have a scheme with Beavers in large enclosed area.

[Amber]

Outdoor photography had an article on boars in the wild and the benefits they have to the lower scrub levels within woodlands.

[Gill Catton]

I'm really not sure about much of this, It's hugely dependant on whether there's the habitat still around to support them away from people. Also the British Strains have been lost forever, it's gone - extinct- that's what it means. Is the European Lynx definately the same species or were they different sub species? Does anyone know?

Also we need to consider how such species would cope with climate change - is it right to introduce an animal into an environment which may alter so drastically?

In principle it seems okish but I'm uncomfortable with it, what's wrong with the wildlife we already have? Why can't we spend the money on protecting that? Why do we need wild boar when we already have deer doing so much damage to our woodlands? Introducing these species just feels like the creation of a large open air zoo to me.........

[Amber]

Gill, the reason most of these species are extinct is due to man, and his change of the environment - the cause of global warming, etc. In a way, I'm advocating reverting to a time before man was able to change the landscape with such devastating effect. The counter though, would be that due to man, the landscape today is not the landscape of the boar, beaver, etc....

[JM]

Found this on the web....

One of the two males that escaped in Ashdown Forest in Spring 1998 is still at large, and has established a bankside lodge on a lake system in the upper catchment of the Medway. It has been felling trees and building up a large food store of branches that resembles a huge swan's nest. There are no plans to recapture it at present - most people don't even realise it is there! There are conflicting stories about the Somerset colony, but all agree that two beavers from a local wildlife park settled on backwaters of the River Axe in 1969. According to some local sources they have obviously bred well, with 8 or 9 animals present up to at least Summer 1995, and they have even been constructing dams!

Unfortunately, however, it should be pointed out that all of these examples are Canadian beavers. It is feared that such escapes might prejudice any future reintroduction of European beavers to Britain by outcompeting them, as has happened with the release of both species in Finland.

But as Gill said, it is extinct and is reintroduction such a good thing?