What a year it has been!  4 beavers, 2 kits, 1 lodge, 1 winter food cache and lots of coppiced trees!

There have been 14 aerial images covering the reserve from September 2020 onwards showing how the reserve has changed over time since the beavers were released in 2021.  Check out our interactive beaver map here.

Over 73 hours of footage in which species on the reserve have been identified and catalogued and with over 6 hours of footage showing what the beavers have been up to.

We are working with lots of other organisations to do habitat surveys, fish monitoring, bird monitoring, butterfly monitoring, small mammal monitoring, dragonfly and damselfly monitoring, and water quality monitoring – all to help us understand the interactions of species at Willington Wetlands.

In today's blog we share a round up of how it all began!

The first release

On the 27th September 2022, one beaver pair (a male and a female) travelled all the way from Five Sisters Zoo in Scotland, following quarantine and health checks, and were carefully transported to Willington Wetlands by the Beaver Trust. Within a few days the beavers were settling down in their new surroundings. 

Watch footage below of the first beaver release!

The second release

On the 7th October 2021, the second beaver pair (another male and female) were released in a pool on the other end of the wetland reserve. At this stage the beavers have been continuing to familiarise themselves with their new habitat. Our camera trap footage has captured them grooming, swimming, tree gnawing, interacting with one another and caching winter food.

Watch footage of the second release below!

Beaver kits are born!

In July 2022 we discovered that two beaver kits had been born! This is the first time in 800 years that baby beavers have been born in Derbyshire, thanks to successful beaver reintroduction programme. 

Watch below footage of the first beaver kits.

We look forward to watching how these incredible animals continue to transform this wetland habitat, and to hopefully welcoming more kits in the future.

To find out more about the beaver project and to view our special beaver map to see how the landscape is changing, follow the link below! 

All about beavers