Beaver mural planned to mark species' comeback

The Friends of Kingsmead Field say this is the mock-up of the planned mural on the outside wall of the Curzon Canterbury Riverside Cinema

Wildlife campaigners are raising money to paint a mural featuring beavers in a Kent city to celebrate the return of the species in Britain.

The Friends of Kingsmead Field and Canterbury District Biodiversity Network aim to raise £4,000 for street artist Mark Anthony, who specialises in painting murals featuring endangered species, to carry out the work.

The proposed artwork would be painted on the outside wall of the Curzon Canterbury Riverside Cinema which overlooks the Stour River.

Sian Pettman, secretary of The Friends of Kingsmead Field, told the BBC it was an "exciting" project and hoped the mural would be appreciated by the community.

Kent has the biggest beaver population in England

"We hope to use this mural to raise awareness about the important role of beavers," she added.

"They are the 'engineers' of our ecosystem because they create new wetland habitats and help restore rivers and floodplains to a more natural state."

Beavers were hunted to extinction in the 16th Century in the UK, but conservationists have been re-introducing the animal back into the wild.

According to a survey last year by Beaver Trust and Kent Wildlife Trust, there are now hundreds of wild beavers living in Kent - with some spotted in the centre of Canterbury.

Street artist Mark Anthony painted a mural of a bison outside the Gulbenkian Theatre at the University of Kent

Ms Pettman said they hoped to raise the money by 15 September and to unveil the mural to coincide with World Rivers Day and the Great Stour Riverfest on 28 September.

She said the proposed mural is part of conservationists' larger project in Canterbury, the Wild Walls Trail, which features murals dedicated to endangered species in the UK.

Mr Anthony has already painted a bison mural at the Gulbenkian Theatre at the University of Kent and the heath fritillary butterfly mural opposite the Westgate Towers, which both form part of the trail.