A Devon wildlife park is hoping to create a special home where beavers can temporarily stay before being introduced into the wild.
Wildwood, based in Escot Park near Ottery St Mary, has put in for permission to create a building that could be used to ensure beavers are fit enough to be found a home in the wild.
The park was the site of England’s first licensed beaver reintroduction in 2015 in collaboration with Devon Wildlife Trust, and is now bidding to create five purpose-built indoor enclosures in a secluded area of the park.
The idea would be for the facility to temporarily house beavers to ensure they are healthy and appropriately paired before being reintroduced elsewhere under license.
Wildwood said each year, some beavers need to be recovered from the wild and rehabilitated because if they enter the sea or estuaries, the saltwater can pose challenges for their survival.
The new enclosures would enable Wildwood to provide expert care and veterinary support before these beavers are re-released.
Pete Burgess, director of conservation at Wildwood, said: “Reintroduction is at the heart of what we do at Wildwood, and we are working closely with partners to support the recovery of healthy beaver populations.
“As nature’s aquatic engineers, beavers deliver unrivalled benefits for wildlife, while their dams act as natural filters and help reduce flood risk downstream.
“The new facilities will help catchments elsewhere in the country realise the huge benefits beavers bring, witnessed here in the River Otter.”
The proposed site for the new building is currently an agricultural field, and the application says it would be constructed with timber Yorkshire boarding and concrete panels below, with fibre cement sheets on the roof.
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