TWO baby beavers have been born in an enclosure in the Cropton Forest in the North York Moors as part of a dam-building trial to reduce flooding.

The Forestry England Twitter page tweeted this morning: "Two new baby beavers born in Yorkshire! We're excited to welcome two new arrivals to the colony in Cropton Forest. Watch to see the kits settling into the now family of eight."

Two adult beavers were introduced into the enclosure in 2019 as part of a five-year trial.

The dam-building animals were introduced after communities downstream from Cropton Forest had suffered severe flooding in the last 20 years, with the most severe being in 2007 causing approximately £7 million worth of damage. 

Man made dams had been built to reduce flooding risks, however, they are expensive and time consuming to look after.

As a result of the "Slowing the Flow" project, two beavers were introduced into a secured area to maintain existing dams and build their own.

Cath Bashforth, leading Ecologist for the project, said: "I had suspicions, but it took a while to get two kits visible on the same camera clip!" 

READ MORE: Rishi Sunak gets new pet dog called Nova

Speaking on the project, she said: "We’ve had a fantastic positive response to the beaver trial so far. Over 40 volunteers have put in roughly 500 hours surveying the site for different species.

"It will be exciting to see how the site changes over the next 5 years and how the beavers interact with the man-made dam features in the beck."

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated North Yorkshire Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054