Finchingfield Spains Hall Estate welcomes baby beavers

The beavers at Spains Hall Estate, near Finchingfield, have produced yet another litter of kits.

This brings the family to 11 and the total number of enclosed beavers on the ground-breaking Essex estate to 15, thought to be the largest enclosed population in England.Fluffy - baby beaver exploring the enclosure (Image: Simon Hurwitz)

First introduced in March 2019, the two original adult beavers have now bred every year, showing that they are comfortable in their 10-acre fenced enclosure.

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Two newer beaver pairs, released into two larger 50 acres enclosures in 2023, have yet to breed.

Photographer Simon Hurwitz, who caught the first glimpse of this year's new arrivals, said: "It's always such a great pleasure to witness the emergence of the kits.

"They are so much smaller than their mother, floating higher in the water, looking like fuzzy miniature versions.

"Like all children, they often need a bit of encouragement to do things, I regularly see the parents grab a kit in their mouth and drag them off to bed in the morning.Family - adult beaver collects wood chips (Image: Spains Hall Estate)

"It's a joy and privilege to watch them growing up and integrating into the family group."

Sarah Brockless, the estate's ecologist, added: "The woodland is becoming a fantastically diverse mosaic of habitats, and the more area the beavers impact, the more space they create for greater numbers and diversity of wildlife."

Estate manager, Archie Ruggles-Brise, welcomed these latest arrivals by saying: "The beaver family in our first enclosure just go from strength to strength.

"With every year their number grows and their ability to transform the formerly dry woodland into a wetland paradise increases.Wetlands - the beaver family occupies 10-acer wetlands (Image: Simon Hurwitz)

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"We are confident that once again, despite the rest of the estate drying out rapidly, the beaver wetlands will remain wet all year round, providing a valuable resource in the landscape.

"We've taken what the beavers have taught us and now have plans to emulate their water management work much wider across the landscape."

For more information on the beaver project and the wider environmental plans on the estate visit spainshallestate.co.uk/environment.