KNOWLEDGE BASE

This report assessed the evidence gathered during the River Otter Beaver Trial (ROBT) in England. It aimed to evaluate whether the trial had been successful and whether beavers should remain in the catchment after the licence expires. The report found that the trial had indeed been a success, with objectives met, conditions adhered to, and conflicts well managed. It recommended that beavers should be permitted to stay after the end of the ROBT. This was, in the end, the decision of the UK Government.

This report described beavers' interactions with the human and more-than-human environment in England. It did so with the aim of informing decisions on future beaver reintroductions in England. Overall, the report supported further reintroductions, showing that the potential environmental, economic, and social benefits outweighed the potential costs. However, challenges such as land use conflicts were also noted. At over 250 pages, this report is an important reference on beavers in England - Chapters 4 and 5, in particular, detail beavers' impacts on a wide range of other biological and social phenomena.

This report summarised Natural England's position on how the future of beaver reintroductions in England should proceed, recommending a measured pace of releases prioritised in locations which maximise benefits and minimise risks. This position is justified in detail, alongside a host of other management, funding, and legal recommendations. This measured pace was supported because it would give people time to get used to living alongside beavers, and give practitioners time to learn how to manage their negative impacts. Annex B also described the beaver management approaches of many other countries.

Combining data on beaver sightings, enclosures, and releases from Natural England and the Environment Agency, this text described the modern return of the Eurasian beaver to England after centuries of absence. This included the early story of a pair of beavers on the River Axe in the mid-1980s who possibly escaped from a nearby wildlife park. Overall, this report provided a brief (modern) history of beavers in England and an assessment on where those beavers - both captive and free - could be found in the country.

Beavers rely on both land and water for food, shelter, and safety. By using technologies which can recreate beavers' movements in 3D space, scientists were able to gather data on where, when, and under what conditions beavers dive in the water! By doing so, we learned that these beavers in Norway prefer diving near the riverbank and near aquatic plants like quillwort and shoreweed. Dives occurred more often at night. Some differences between dominant and subordinate beavers were also observed.