Beaver kits named by beaver scouts and pupils

Two beaver kits, the first to be born in Hampshire for 400 years, have been named Bobby and Barry following a competition for local children.

Their parents, Chompy and Hazel, were released on the Ewhurst Park estate near Basingstoke in January 2023.

The little beavers were first spotted splashing about in the water in their enclosure in July.

Their names were chosen by Year 5 pupils from St Gabriel's in Newbury and, fittingly, by Beaver Scouts at the 3rd Alton scout group.

The winners were given a trophy by former Member of the European Parliament (MEP), author and environmentalist, Stanley Johnson.

As part of the competition the park also ran a week of activities for pupils at schools across Hampshire to visit the 925-acre estate to see the beaver family.

The children toured the beaver enclosure, found out about beaver ecology and made bug hotels as part of the park's nature restoration project.

Footage captured from wildlife cameras has shown the two brothers starting to learn how to gnaw and fell trees.

Bobby and Barry will stay with their parents until they are about two years old.

Beavers were hunted to extinction in Britain in the 16th Century.

The estate is one of several places across England to reintroduce the mammals to act as "ecosystem engineers", building dams and felling trees to provide vital habitat and resources for insects, fish, plants, birds and bats, and help to mitigate flooding risks.

Chompy and Hazel's names were chosen by children from Mount Pleasant Junior School in Southampton and Whitchurch CE Primary School.

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