More beavers join only wild family in England

More beavers have been released into the wild as part of England's first beaver reintroduction project.

A male and a female shimmied into the River Otter in East Devon, at a secret location.

Beavers were hunted to extinction in England and Wales during the 12th Century, but a family of wild beavers was spotted in 2014.

The Devon Wildlife Trust was granted a five-year licence by Natural England in January 2015 to manage a beaver reintroduction pilot.

It is about 14 months since other beaver families were released into the river after being tested for disease.

Steve Hussey, from the DWT, said it was hoped the new beavers, bred in UK captivity, would increase the genetic pool of the current beaver population, which were "quite closely related".

The current total number of the animals is now unknown, he added.