Eating beavers: dams, canals – and maybe babies

In October, a family of five beavers was introduced to Paradise Fields in Ealing, west London. They were the first urban beavers in Britain.

The project has three aims: to get the public to engage with nature, to study biodiversity improvements and to monitor flood mitigation effects. So after seven months, how did the project go?

It’s perfect weather for beavers. The rain is relentless as we trudge past the trees and through the long grass and into their habitat. But the rain can’t stop the wonder and excitement of what’s happening here.

This is Paradise Fields in Greenford in Ealing. It’s a nature preserve next to a commercial property, but seven months ago beavers were introduced there. This is now very much their home and they are transforming the habitat.

They’re so happy that volunteers here believe the beavers might breed, and cubs – or kits as they’re known – could be on the way.

We’re with Dr Sean McCormack, who was one of the driving forces behind the scheme.

He takes us to one of the five beaver dams here, where they cut down trees and branches and dredged the mud to create large pools.

“This is the first dam they’ve created in the system, the first of five,” says Dr McCormack. “The reason they created it here is to create some deep water before they have to cross the Capital Ring path that runs through the site.

“For a beaver, they don’t know if there’s a bear, a wolf, a lynx around every corner. It’s their instinct to create deep water so they feel safe. They’re basically checking to see if the coast is clear upstream here.”

Dams also filter water. Deep pools mean beavers can dive and avoid predators. They can stay under water for 15 minutes.

This family of five beavers soon started working here after their introduction seven months ago. You can hear the road and see high-rise apartments from their new home, which is right on the Capital Ring Path, but none of that seems to have bothered the beavers. They created canals so they could easily transport the logs on water. No wonder they are called nature’s engineers; the whole area changes.

Dr McCormack says there could be more good news on the way: “All the evidence says they are doing great and have settled in well. I saw all five early in the morning and late in the evening.

“And we even suspect there might be some babies in the cabin. This is the ultimate test of being happy here; we anticipate that it could appear at the end of the summer.”

Beavers mainly only come out of their lodge at dawn and dusk, which means they can be hard to spot.

However, volunteers used motion cameras to capture the beavers at work.

Nadya Mirochnitchenko, an ecologist for the Ealing Beaver Project, says beavers help retain more water on the site: “They create more of a wet area compared to a drier area. And that has a lot of benefits for different biodiversity, including pond life, birds, insects, bats, newts and frogs, so there’s a lot of biodiversity benefits that beavers can bring.

Dr McCormack says beavers also keep trees in check: “We actually have a problem with too many trees. This area is completely shaded in summer.

“If you think about freshwater ecosystems, they need light to accomplish the growth of algae and all the other species that grow there. If they’re completely shaded, there’s not much light, so we’re happy to see them tackling some big trees.”