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A beaver has been found living wild in England for the first time in 500 years.

Retired environmental scientist Tom Buckley managed to photograph the dam-builder at night sinking its teeth into a tree.

Tom set up the automatic camera after a farmer reported trees being felled or damaged on his land by the river Otter in Devon.

He said: “The question now is if it’s just one, or is it a pair. It might be an escapee, but nobody seems to have lost a beaver.”

Beavers were hunted to extinction here in the 16th century.

Conservation groups reintroduced some in recent years but these are all accounted for.

Beavers are nocturnal and normally live in family groups.

They can survive up to 24 years in the wild.