400 Years of Extinction: ‘Justin Beaver’ and ‘Sigourney Beaver’ to Return in Enfield, London to Combat Flooding

400 years after their extinction in the UK, Eurasian beavers or European beavers will be reintroduced in the country to combat urban flooding.

Two beavers named "Justin Beaver" and "Sigourney Beaver" will be reportedly deployed in Enfield, London, as part of a natural flood management initiative.

The beavers are expected to serve as natural engineers to create dams and waterways as an alternative catch basin during urban flooding caused by heavy rain during severe weather or storm.

The two beavers are also expected to reproduce in the coming months and restore natural habitats, including wetland habitats, in the Enfield city area.

The said beaver species are considered to be rodents that were once abundant in Europe and Asia but were hunted down on the brink of extinction at the start of the 20th century.

The global conservation status of the Eurasian beaver is currently listed as "least concern" due to their low population.

After 400 Years of Extinction

The UK government is reintroducing two Eurasian beavers who were temporarily named "Justin Beaver" and "Sigourney Beaver" set to be deployed in the city of Enfield in London, England, as part of measures against urban flooding, as per AccuWeather.

After 400 years of extinction in the UK, the beavers have been introduced in the country over recent years; with the two Hollywood-named beavers to be the latest of the widescale effort to fight not only flooding but also as a form of conserving the Eurasian beaver population and restoring natural habitats.

On March 17, local authorities have released Justin Beaver and Sigourney Beaver at their enclosure at Forty Hall Farm in Enfield.

It is part of a two-year natural flood management initiative. Over recent years, Enfield had been battered by severe flash floods.

Eurasian Beaver in the UK

A Eurasian beaver or European beaver (Castor fiber) is part of the taxon Rodentia.

Their common natural habitats are woodland areas, floodplains, and the bottom of slow-moving river valleys, as per the Mammal Society, a non-profit organization created to save wildlife in the UK.

These rodent mammal species were once prevalent in the UK, including in England, Scotland, and Wales.

Once perceived to be an extinct species in the UK, there has been the reintroduction of Eurasian beavers over recent years.

The reintroduction is considered to be a significant step toward animal conservation, ecological restoration, and flood control measures.

Related efforts were done already in Cornwall, Devon, Kent, and Scotland.

Hunted Toward Near-Extinction

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Castor fiber beavers were driven toward near-extinction due to excessive hunting food and for their fur at the beginning of the 1990s.

In Europe, Eurasian beavers can be found in a few areas such as in Rhone, France; Elbe, Germany; Voronezh, Russia, Neman River and Dnepr Basin, Belarus; and Norway.

In Asia, there is still an existing Eurasian beaver population in Mongolia.

Globally, the IUCN classifies them under its list of "least concerned" species, meaning their population is very small, ranging between the hundreds and more than a thousand.

Furthermore, the IUCN the population of beavers, especially in Asia, needs urgent conservation measures.