The first beaver to be born in the wild in Staffordshire for more than 400 years has been captured on camera by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust.
Footage released by the Trust shows the young beaver, known as a kit, during its first independent moments.
Earlier this year, the Trust revealed it was monitoring a number of wild beavers across the county. The animals are believed to be the result of illegal releases by unknown rewilding enthusiasts.
However, the Trust did not announce at the time that one of the beavers appeared to be lactating, indicating she was feeding young in her burrow. The information was only shared with the landowner, partners involved in its beaver project and subscribed members while the kit remained vulnerable.
Nick Mott, Species Recovery Manager at Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, said: “During their first few weeks beaver kits are incredibly vulnerable to predation from mink and otter, so we were really cautious about sharing this exciting news until we’d had sightings of the kits above ground, which now we do.
“This is amazing news. Although the circumstances in which the beavers arrived here are less than ideal, it shows that we do have suitable habitat for them to thrive and breed here again. I’m thrilled.
“At this stage we’ve only seen one kit on our trail camera, so it may be that it’s an only kit, or it could be that its siblings were predated – we’re not sure. Thankfully this kit looks healthy and it’s feeding without either of its parents present, which is another good sign. We’ll continue to monitor this family as the kit grows, along with other beavers in different areas, but we’re yet to see any signs of those breeding.”
The discovery comes as Staffordshire Wildlife Trust prepares to begin work on a fenced beaver enclosure at its Craddocks Moss nature reserve near Madeley.
The Trust plans to release a pair of beavers at the lowland bog this autumn in the hope they will help restore the habitat and improve conditions for other wildlife.
It is also continuing work on plans to reintroduce more wild beavers to Staffordshire. After the Government confirmed in 2025 that beavers can be released into the wild under licence, the Trust is preparing information for a future licence application to Natural England for a proposed 10-year project that could see 50 beavers reintroduced in suitable locations.
