A family of five beavers was released in London on Wednesday in a pioneering project to encourage the “rewilding” of the capital’s urban areas.
The beavers were brought to London overnight after being “relocated” from the wild in Scotland, where they were at risk of being shot by farmers or landowners.
They were released by Mayor Sadiq Khan in an eight-hectare fenced area of wetland at Paradise Fields woods in Greenford.
It is thought to be the first time in 400 years that beavers have been seen on an urban site in the capital.
The hope is that the natural tendency of beavers to build dams will help to reduce the flood risk to the surrounding area, boost the capital’s wildlife population and inspire Londoners to learn more about nature.
“Beaver safaris”, offering the public the chance to see the largely nocturnal mammals, are due to begin in a month, once they have “settled in”. Until then, Paradise Fields will be temporarily closed.
The Eurasian beavers – an adult couple and three infants known as “kits” – have not yet been given names. Local schools and community groups will be invited to make suggestions in the coming weeks.
The beavers were brought to the site by the Beaver Trust and experts from Five Sisters Zoo, in Scotland.
A “phenomenal” volunteer effort has been undertaken over the summer to create the secure enclosure – both to prevent the beavers from escaping and to reduce the danger to the kits from dogs and predators. They will be monitored by Ealing Beaver Project staff and volunteers.
Mr Khan, who awarded the project almost £40,000, said he was “delighted” to release one of the beavers from its cage.
Mr Khan said: “What a great day. You can’t but smile when you see these beavers swimming around. I had the pleasure of releasing two kits. It’s gorgeous.
“We as a city for too long have been de-wilding our city. We are going to rewild our city - more, greenery, more beavers. We have also got plans for bees, bats and water voles.”
Asked what the beavers should be named, he discounted naming them after himself, Tory mayoral rival Susan Hall or former Labour leader Jermy Corbyn. “One of the kits I let out, she came back again, again and again for the cameras. I think she should be called Taylor Swift.”
He said: “We are facing climate and ecological emergencies worldwide, but we have the power to make a difference. I am committed to ensuring that London is at the forefront of reversing the trends of declining biodiversity and the destruction of nature.
“I’m proud that we are turning London into a wildlife haven, as well as making the city more resilient to the effects of climate change, as we work to clean up our city, re-establish lost species and reconnect people and nature.”
Beavers were once commonplace along British rivers and streams, but they were hunted to extinction around the 16th century, being prized for their fur, meat and scent glands.
They build dams to create deep pools of water to protect themselves from predators and to submerge their lodge access.
They have protective eyelids to see underwater – where they can remain for up to 15 minutes - and can close their nostrils and ears.
Beavers are vegetarian – they feed on aquatic plants, grasses, herbaceous plants and shrubs during the summer and woody plant matter in winter. Their distinctive incisor teeth are coloured orange due to the iron content in the enamel, which makes their teeth strong enough to bring down trees.
Last month it emerged that a baby beaver had been born in London for the first time in hundreds of years.
It was spotted during the summer in a special enclosure near Forty Hall in Enfield.
Enfield council launched London’s first beaver reintroduction programme last year. However the project hit an early snag when the male adult beaver, named Justin Beaver, died. His partner, Sigourney Beaver, was given a new partner. She was spotted pregnant earlier this year.
The Ealing project also involves Ealing Wildlife Group, Citizen Zoo and Friends of Horsenden Hill.
Dr Sean McCormack, a vet and chair of Ealing Wildlife Group, said the reintroduction of beavers was “unbelievably exciting”.
He said: We’re excited to show they can have benefits in the urban landscape, not only for wildlife but for people too.”
Elliot Newton, co-founder of Citizen Zoo, said: “Beavers can be found in urban environments across Europe and North America, and here we will help to demonstrate how we can embrace nature even in built-up landscapes such as Ealing.”
