Holnicote Estate beaver: Rashford celebrates first birthday

The Eurasian beaver used to be native to England but was hunted to extinction about 400 years ago

The first beaver to be born on Exmoor in 400 years is celebrating its first birthday.

The kit was named Rashford following a vote on social media and was born on the Holnicote Estate in Somerset.

Its parents, Yogi and Grylls, were paired by the National Trust in 2020 after a licence was granted to release Eurasian beavers onto its land.

Rashford and his parents continue to turn the degraded landscape on the estate into thriving wetland.

Rashford was named after the football player Marcus Rashford, by a public vote

Yogi and Grylls were released into an enclosure on the estate in January 2020 and Rashford was born 18 months later.

Rashford is believed to be the first beaver born on Exmoor since the reign of the Tudors, and is the first to be born on National Trust land.

Beavers can play a role in helping to combat the climate crisis because their dams help restore dry and degraded wetlands.

Staff at Holnicote said they had already recorded a "dramatic change" in water levels on the previously unmanaged woodland, as well as a change to vegetation and light.

The National Trust said the beavers on the site had already dramatically improved the wetlands and landscape

Holnicote National Trust project manager Ben Eardley said the wetlands the beavers had helped to restore had encouraged a few otters to move on to the estate.

"The multiple dam complexes created by Rashford, Grylls and Yogi over the last two years have helped slow the flow of water through the catchment, creating ponds and new channels to hold more water in the landscape" he said.

"The resulting water habitat is creating opportunities for a wide range of wildlife to flourish, including fish, amphibians, reptiles such as grass snakes, bats, insects and birds like sparrow hawk, grey wagtail, moorhens and kingfishers."

To mark his birthday, The National Trust released images of Rashford dam building with Yogi

Mr Eardley said the beavers were also helping to manage the woodland naturally by stripping bark from non-native conifers to create deadwood habitats and encourage natural woodland succession.

"This process opens up the canopy, promoting regrowth."

He said there were some early signs indicating that "more kits may be on their way later this spring".