First wild beavers born in Norfolk for more than 500 years

The first beaver kits to be born in the wild in Norfolk for more than 500 years are being celebrated.

A beaver spotted at Pensthorpe Natural Park in Norfolk late last year, was thought to be the first wild beaver in the county for centuries.

Camera trap footage followed showing two beavers living together and now two babies, called kits, have appeared.

The park described the arrival of the babies as "an extraordinary moment".

Beavers became extinct in the UK in the 1500s due to over hunting, but have been reintroduced in many places.

Where the first beaver came from was unknown but it was thought to have travelled along the River Wensum before making its home at Pensthorpe Natural Park near the town of Fakenham.

The reserve set up motion-activated cameras to monitor the beaver and soon spotted a second beaver and then two kits.

Richard Spowage, the reserve manager at Pensthorpe, said:

"To now see two kits on our cameras, growing up wild here in Norfolk, is an extraordinary moment."

Beavers have an important role in nature creating wetlands with their dams, helping to prevent flooding and shaping forests.

When beavers were first introduced in 2009 they had to be kept in enclosures and carefully monitored.

After a change in UK Government policy in 2025 beavers can now be legally released into the wild in both England and Scotland, though a license is still needed to introduce them.

Alongside these reintroductions there are cases of arrivals of free-living beavers where no official reintroduction has been planned.

Richard Spowage from Pensthorpe Natural Park said:

"Less than a year ago, we didn't know we had a beaver here at all. Now we have a family.

"Moments like this are exactly why long-term habitat restoration and conservation matter."