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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Patrick Barkham

‘Beaver-bombing’: unauthorised rodent releases on the rise in English rivers

Beaver in a river
Beavers have appeared in rivers across Devon and spread through Somerset to Wiltshire and Gloucestershire despite no official releases of the animal. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

“Beaver bombing”, covertly releasing beavers into the countryside, is increasing in England because successive governments have not fulfilled promises to permit some planned wild releases, conservationists are warning.

Beavers now live freely on river systems across swaths of southern England, and conservationists are calling on Labour to allow official releases of free-living beavers and produce a national strategy to maximise the biodiversity and flood alleviation benefits delivered by the industrious mammals.

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