Beavers captured from Scotland have been released into the wild in England for the first time under new rules that were announced last week. They were set free on a river bank in Dorset as part of a plan by conservationists who say that the beavers love of dam building will increase biodiversity.

A beaver makes it's way to the water after a licensed release of beavers at Purbeck Heaths National Nature Reserve, after the Government approved licences for wild releases of beavers, whose dams, canals and ponds boost wildlife.

The Eurasian beaver will return to the wild across England for the first time in 400 years, the government has announced, as applications to return beavers into river catchments across the country will now be accepted.