Wild Beaver Spotted in South Cornwall
A wild beaver has been spotted swimming in the River Fal
It’s a sight that hasn’t been witnessed in Cornwall for more than 400 years and is being described as a “complete mystery”.
Spotted by a tea plantation worker at Tregothnan Gardens, a wild beaver seen swimming in the River Fal has caused much excitement and a huge amount of intrigue.
Chris Jones of the Cornwall Beaver Project was equally surprised by the appearance of the semi-aquatic rodent that’s taken to the Roseland sea creek. Having helped release beavers into an enclosed woodland plantation along Nankilly Water, near Ladock, in 2017, he was able to confirm to the BBC that none of those beavers had escaped and all were present and accounted for, only adding to the bafflement.
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Beavers were hunted to extinction in the UK during the 16th century, but more recently have been released back into both wild and enclosed habitats across the isles. They are considered a keystone species and are often described as wetland architects and eco-engineers.
The sighting has raised concerns among gardeners at the Tregothnan Estate who are worried about the rare flora that grows within its acres and its award-winning tea plants. Speaking to Falmouth newspaper The Packet, head gardener, Neil Bennett, said: “Some of these trees are extinct in the wild or part of a national collection and must not become a beaver snack.”
A spokesperson for the estate added: “Nowhere else in the world that grows tea is thought to be home to beavers and it is not known if the escaped beaver has targeted tea in particular or was taking advantage of the relatively warm waters that circulate through the tea gardens.”
A five-year government trial into the reintroduction of wild beaver highlighted a long list of benefits, from their ability to restore biodiversity in barren wildernesses to their knack for solving flooding issues.
These benefits are already being recognised in Devon and Cornwall where beavers have been granted the right to remain and spread naturally on the rivers Otter, Tamar and Tiddy. However, the sighting of the lone beaver on the River Fal remains particularly significant as it’s nowhere near any monitored release settings and is therefore being described as a truly ‘wild’ event.