The risks of rewilding

It started with a few in "secure" rewilding areas in Devon, but oh dear!, a male escaped and went "looking for love" said the Daily Mail. Now "an estimated" 15 families with babies have colonised the area.

However Devon Wildlife Trust is delighted that they're breeding, and although the escapee was traced because he'd felled a tree, and returned to the secure area, the trust says it's a ground-breaking government decision to license them. Sounds more like a tree-breaking result to me.

I'm not really concerned about the beavers, although I think releasing them as an experiment is risky. But we're assured "any conflicts can be managed swiftly and efficiently". Like mink I suppose?

They say "beavers' building activities reduced the risk of flooding to some flood-threatened human settlements, and are so important during this ecological and climate emergency”. I'm glad we aren't dependent on beavers to stop the Severn flooding – yet. Cheshire Wildlife Trust is just introducing them there, so they're our new neighbours.

Wolves and lynx next then, and heaven help us if they can't be contained safely. Chris Packham must be loving this!

Rosemary Allen is a retired livestock farmer living near Ellesmere