London Moved 5 Beavers Into a Flood-Prone Park… What Happened 1 Year Later Stunned Engineers
In October 2023, five wild beavers were released into a neglected park in west London, less than ten kilometres from Heathrow. Within a year they had done something local engineers had failed to do since the 1970s. They stopped the flooding. This is the story of the Ealing Beaver Project: how a family of five Eurasian beavers, led by a thirty-kilogram matriarch named Willow, became the first wild beavers in this corner of London in four hundred years, why their dams succeeded where expensive engineering failed, and what their return says about a much larger plan to rewild Britain. No hype. No narration telling you what to feel. Just the documented record, and what it means. SOURCES CBC News (London beavers, Willow, flooding): https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/london-... CNN (beaver rewilding, Ealing, flooding): https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/18/climat... NPR (British beavers and flooding): https://www.npr.org/2026/05/21/nx-s1-... The Standard / inkl (eight beavers solved the Tube flooding): https://www.inkl.com/news/how-eight-b... Citizen Zoo (Ealing Beaver Project): https://www.citizenzoo.org/our-work/e... Ealing Wildlife Group (one year in): https://ealingwildlifegroup.com/2024/... Ealing Wildlife Group (bringing beavers back to London): https://ealingwildlifegroup.com/bring... NHBS (community-led rewilding success story): https://www.nhbs.com/blog/bringing-th... Devon Wildlife Trust (research on flooding and drought): https://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/ne... Rewilding Britain (what's so special about beavers): https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/w... Scottish Wildlife Trust (Scottish Beavers, Knapdale): https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/... The Wildlife Trusts (UK beaver status and 2025 releases): https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/saving... Natural History Museum (100 beavers, England wild release): https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2... NatureScot (beaver biology, ecosystem engineer): https://www.nature.scot/professional-... Discover Wildlife (Eurasian beaver guide): https://www.discoverwildlife.com/anim...
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