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The thriving beaver population of East Devon has risen to 27 this year.

Six family groups are now living on the river system, and at the start of this year Devon Wildlife Trust estimated there were 21 beavers living in six territories throughout the river system.

In the late spring six baby beavers were born on the River Otter, where Devon Wildlife Trust and its partners are carrying out a trial reintroduction.

(Image: Mike Symes)

“Beaver kits are born in May and we know that at least two female beavers gave birth in the trial area in 2017,” Stephen Hussey from the trust said.

“The beaver family living in the lower part of the River Otter is thriving. In 2016 the adult pair produced a remarkable five kits.

“These one year olds were mostly still in the same area in 2017 – young beavers begin to move further afield to establish their own territories at the age of two years.

“This year the adult female gave birth to another four surviving kits. Once they’d learned to swim, at the age of a month or so, these kits were seen exploring the river on their own, as well as clambering over their parents and feeding on bankside plants.

“Just as in 2016, the female beaver and her kits proved a very popular wildlife-watching attraction this summer, from the public footpaths on this well-used section of the river, near Otterton.”

In May last year the wildlife trust and project partners introduced an additional male and female beaver to a private site where suitable beaver habitats had been identified.

In their first year on this site on a tributary of the River Otter, the beavers have been very active, creating a number of dams around the release pond.

Photos from cameras installed around the site show this beaver family has doubled in number – two kits have been recorded moving confidently around the release site since July 2017.

Camera traps have picked up lots of interesting behaviour, including interaction with other mammals.

The River Otter Beaver Trial receives no government funding and relies on donations.