Beaver duo born at country estate

Young beavers are back in the Devon for what is believed to be the first time in about 400 years - after the birth of two kits on a country estate.

The young animals have been sighted at Escot Park at Ottery St Mary.

Their parents were introduced to each other at the park in 2007 after they were brought over from Germany and given a two-acre enclosure.

Estate owner John-Michael Kennaway said it had been "really exciting" to learn of the new arrivals.

'Puppy-like noises'

The beavers' two-acre enclosure includes ponds, banks and trees.

Mr Kennaway said he had suspected that the estate had new arrivals, but it was some time before they were seen.

He said: "The first we knew of it, there was a maternity lodge being built [from]which you could hear rustlings going on that you knew weren't the parents.

"Then we heard puppy-like noises in the lodge, but we had to wait a good five weeks before we saw one out of the lodge."

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Escot Park
BBC Springwatch - Beavers
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