The announcement was made in a report from the Government body that was commissioned after one family was discovered during the covid lockdown of 2020–21. As a result, a full-scale survey was commissioned, covering some 175 miles of the Bristol Avon and its tributaries in Somerset and Wiltshire.
What the researchers found was astounding, with some 13 different established beaver families found that appear to have been there for years. About 20 dams were also discovered across a number of rivers, including the Somerset Frome, By Brook and Semington Brook. Before the first beaver was spotted in 2020, it was not believed that any of the animals had been living in the Avon and its catchment area since they had been hunted to extinction in the 16th century.
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