nine wild beavers are to continue to live free on a devon river after they passed health checks the animals   the first wild beavers to breed in england for 800 years   were captured earlier this week and given crucial blood tests their clear results mean the beavers should be released back into the wild on the river otter by the end of the month a family of beavers is to continue living free on a devon river after passing health checks that included blood tests natural england, the government agency in charge of wildlife, said the animals won't be put in a zoo, but will instead be allowed to stay in the wild and be carefully monitored in the first project of its kind  ministers wanted the remarkable animals to be rounded up and put in a zoo after they were spotted last year but natural england, the government agency in charge of wildlife, decided they will instead be allowed to stay in the wild in the first project of its kind their approval last month was conditional on the beavers being assessed as free of the disease echinococcus multilocularis, which can be harmful to humans now that tests have revealed that the four adult beavers are free of the disease, and if they pass a few more tests, they are set to be released onto the river the echinococcus multilocularis parasite is a small tapeworm its eggs can cause alveolar echinococcosis (ae)   a disease in humans brought on if a person swallows the tapeworm's eggs high risk people include hunters, vets and other people who come into contact with carriers this includes wild foxes, or coyotes, household dogs and cats or other animals that eat wild rodents infected with ae beavers may also pick up the eggs from their surroundings humans can be exposed to these eggs by 'hand to mouth' transfer or contamination devon wildlife trust, which will monitor the beavers for the next five years, said they had passed a ‘vital hurdle’ in one of the most important schemes in the history of english conservation beavers, which are native to england, were common in our countryside until they were wiped out by hunters in the middle ages they vanished from our rivers and wetlands for centuries until, mysteriously, one was spotted near ottery st mary in eastern devon last winter it later became clear there were nine of the animals, two pairs of breeding adults and five juveniles, and they had been quietly living and breeding there for at least five years it was unclear where they came from – but they had thrived without any outside interference environmentalists were delighted at the unexpected finding, but were horrified when defra, the government’s environment department, decided last year that they would round up the beavers officials said the animals posed a risk to other wildlife and might spread parasites and disease, and insisted they must be put in a zoo or even culled that decision was reversed six weeks ago when natural england granted devon wildlife trust a licence to monitor the beavers as part of groundbreaking conservation programme there are at least nine beavers thriving along a 12 mile (19km) stretch of the river otter near exeter (shown on a map) they have been quietly living and breeding there for at least five years, completely unnoticed until just over a year ago  the reason for the beavers’ presence in devon (pictured) remains a mystery there is a slim chance they travelled from scotland, where they have been successfully reintroduced on several rivers, or even from europe, where there are a greater number of reintroduction programmes  the animals will be allowed to live naturally on the river, while wildlife experts monitor the impact they have on the environment dan smith, communications officer at the devon wildlife trust, said yesterday: ‘the beavers are at a private site in devon they will be there until we get the rest of the results and then we can released them back on to the river, hopefully within a few weeks’ peter burgess of the devon wildlife trust said the beavers could have a hugely beneficial impact on rivers, reducing numbers of trees on the banks, improving light levels, and reducing flood risk by controlling water flow with their dams some people think they may slow down flood waters, as well as boosting wildlife diversity farmers and anglers have that they can damage the landscape and fish migration routes as well as being a rare victory for native english wildlife, conservationists say beavers directly benefit the environment friends of the earth campaigner alasdair cameron said: ‘this is fantastic news for all the people who fought to save these beavers we always expected them to be disease free, but it’s wonderful to have it confirmed ‘we now need to get the beavers released back into the wild as soon as possible   and then get on with working to return the species to other suitable parts of the country too’ environment minister lord de mauley said: ‘i am very pleased that all four of the adult beavers have been tested by experts and found to be free of echinococcus multilocularis, a disease which has the potential to be harmful to humans should it become established in the uk’ the reason for the beavers’ presence in devon remains a mystery there are several captive breeding programmes in the uk, including thirty miles away in western devon, on the other side of dartmoor but none of the animals is unaccounted for there is a slim chance they travelled from scotland, where they have been successfully reintroduced on several rivers, or even from europe, where there are a greater number of reintroduction programmes they vanished from our rivers and wetlands for centuries until, mysteriously, one was spotted near ottery st mary in eastern devon last winter a few months later a second beaver was seen and then grainy pictures emerged in the spring of a juvenile a screen grab of video footage of the beavers is shown  peter burgess of the devon wildlife trust said the beavers could have a hugely beneficial impact on rivers, reducing numbers of trees on the banks, improving light levels, and reducing flood risk by controlling water flow with their dams an adult beaver with her young is shown 
five years river otter england a year ago echinococcus devon first natural england 800 years
beavers have been living and breeding on river otter, devon for five years  they are the first wild beavers to breed in england for 800 years  the family of nine went completely unnoticed until a year ago  ministers called for the rodents to be rounded up and put in a zoo  natural england said they could stay wild but only with careful monitoring  and now the creatures have passed health checks including blood tests that screened them for the echinococcus multilocularis parasite 