Doubt cast on plans to capture Devon beavers

Government plans to capture wild Devon beavers have been cast into doubt after Freedom of Information requests by Friends of the Earth revealed that Public Health England (PHE) does not believe the animals would increase risk to human health from disease.

The Government says that the beavers should be captured because of fears that the beavers living in the River Otter near Exeter would increase the risk to human health from the tapeworm, Echinococcus multilocularis. However, information obtained by Friends of the Earth casts doubt on Government justifications.

An email from a Defra official says:

“PHE accept that the main risk of an incursion is likely to be through international movements of pets, both legal and illegal... Therefore they are not convinced that the three Devon beavers necessarily represent a significant increase in overall risk.”

Friends of the Earth campaigner Alasdair Cameron, who obtained the FOIs, said: “This new evidence completely undermines Government plans to remove Devon beavers from the wild.

“If Public Health for England doesn’t believe the beavers pose a significantly increased risk to human health, why do Ministers want to remove them from the wild? In any case they could be easily tested and let go - just like wild beavers in Scotland.”

DEFRA has also acknowledged that any beavers born in the wild could not be carrying the disease, yet the Government still plans to capture them.

"With the Government admitting that any wild born beavers could not harbour the disease, capturing them would be completely disproportionate. 

“At a time when biodiversity all over the world is in freefall, we should be looking to protect these species, not trap them. DEFRA needs to work with local people and experts to come up with a solution which allows these animals to remain in the wild, based on testing and re-releasing them.”

Last month Friends of the Earth revealed that Government plans to capture the wild beavers may be unlawful.