A REWILDING project between Frome and Bruton is celebrating after a landmark event – the first confirmed birth of a baby beaver!

Heal Somerset has announced the happy delivery of the little one – known as a kit – footage of which was captured on trail camera footage earlier this week.

It is the first recorded evidence of successful wild beaver breeding at Heal Somerset.

Last month, the team observed a lactating female beaver and hoped this was a sign that kits could soon emerge.

In order to protect the potential site of the beaver burrow, an exclusion zone was established to minimise human disturbance.

While the area remained undisturbed, a group of dedicated filming volunteers worked on placing trail cameras in carefully chosen locations along the riverbank.

After a period of patient waiting, the footage finally revealed what everyone had hoped for: a baby beaver swimming alongside an adult – likely its mother.

The baby beaver – known as a kit – swimming alongside what is presumed to be its mother. Picture: Heal Somerset

In the video, the adult beaver is seen gently nudging the kit through the water before the young beaver swims away independently.

Off screen, the adult then performs a classic beaver tail slap — an alert behaviour indicating possible danger – and the kit responds with its own tail slap and quickly dives underwater.

Beaver activity was first recorded at Heal Somerset in early 2024, with a pair confirmed by August that year.

In the months since, the beavers have been hard at work, constructing several new dams — efforts captured on trail cameras that showcase their remarkable persistence and engineering skill.

The dams have created deeper pools that are now attracting a variety of wildlife, including ducklings and otters.

These beavers have settled along a narrow, steep-sided tributary of the River Frome, with their dam-building gradually widening the banks and slowing the water flow — natural processes that help reduce the risk of downstream flooding and contribute to healthier, more resilient ecosystems.

“We hope to see more kits in the coming days, as beavers typically have litters of two or three,” a Heal Somerset spokesperson said.

“Kits usually stay with their family for around two years before leaving to find their own home, so over this period we would expect to see more dams appear, with the existing ones growing and the wetland area increasing.”

Heal’s mission is to rewild nature-depleted land in England and create havens for biodiversity.