This week is International Beaver Day.

While we don’t currently have any at the zoo, they’ve been a big success story for reintroducing native animals; they’re practically the poster-mammals for British rewilding.

Native to Britain, the Eurasian beaver used to be widespread in England, Wales, and Scotland, but became extinct in the 16th century, mainly because of hunting for their fur, meat and 'castoreum', a secretion used in perfumes, food, and medicine.

Their supported reintroduction since 2009 has already seen major benefits to the ecosystem. Building dams and naturally coppicing trees provides habitat for a variety of fauna, including otters, water voles, shrews, woodcock, bats, dragonflies, and a host of beetles.

Importantly, beaver-created wetlands act as sponges, retaining water during droughts and helping to prevent flash flooding.

Surprisingly, beavers are (large) rodents, so while their closest relatives at the zoo are our spiny mice, harvest mice, African pouched rat, and striped squirrels, some of their human counterparts display distinctly beaver-like tendencies, especially concerning their reputation for constant building.

The Oasis is always looking to improve our enclosures and habitats.

Standards are always changing for animal welfare, which of course we want to maximise, plus being able to introduce important new species for conservation and education purposes.

As a small enterprise, expansion happens gradually.

We always want to be able to offer better visitor facilities, access, and viewing, so most years there is a programme of works, carefully balanced against budget.

Lockdowns gave us the unexpected opportunity to fast forward some of this work resulting in new marine tanks, miniature monkeys exhibit, dedicated classroom, café recycling hub, and of course the ‘meerkat palace’.

Being sited in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty means that all building works have to comply with strict regulations, like tiling our main building in traditional slate.

It’s gorgeous, but of course, everyone’s eyes go straight to the animals.

This is something beavers don’t have to contend with.

However, considering what beautiful feats of engineering their lodges and dams are, I hope they’d give us their seal of approval.