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For the many who sit around wondering \u201cwhat if anything makes Kevin want to get out of bed in the morning,\u201d you can (and really should) stop doing that now because the answer is \u201cstories like this one.\u201d<\/p>\n
The BBC reported last night<\/a> on the \u201cunderground network\u201d of activists there who \u201crisk arrest, jail, and hefty fines by carrying out covert and unlicensed releases of beavers.\u201d That was the third sentence in the story, but the first one to make clear this was in my jurisdiction. The BBC\u2019s excellent headline, \u201cBeaver activists claim they are \u2018doing God\u2019s work,’\u201d was certainly promising. The two sentences that followed\u2014<\/p>\n Under cover of darkness, a nocturnal creature emerges from a crate and takes its first tentative steps into a new life in the wild. \u201cIt is just essentially God\u2019s work. We\u2019re undoing the damage of hundreds of years ago and bringing back these extraordinary animals,\u201d claimed Ben, who spoke to the BBC on the condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u2014were also exciting. But was there a legal angle? That they were doing it \u201cunder cover of darkness\u201d suggested the answer was yes, and that third sentence confirmed it. <\/p>\n Because it is, in fact, an offense in the UK to release beavers without a license. This is so because of amendments to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981<\/a>, which, like a variety of federal and state laws in the US, limits various actions in order to protect wildlife. (Not all wildlife, certainly, because some are tasty or fun to shoot at. But most.) Section 14 also seeks to protect the existing wildlife and environment from the \u201cintroduction of new species,\u201d and this is the law the beaver activists are accused of violating.<\/p>\n It says this:<\/p>\n 14 Introduction of new species etc.<\/strong><\/p>\n (1) Subject to the provisions of this Part, if any person releases or allows to escape into the wild any animal which\u2014<\/p>\n (a) is of a kind which is not ordinarily resident in and is not a regular visitor to Great Britain in a wild state; or<\/p>\n (b) is included in Part I, IA or IB, of Schedule 9,<\/p>\n he shall be guilty of an offence.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n There are actually two <\/em>Section 14s, one for England and Wales (hereinafter \u201cBritain\u201d), and the other for Scotland, as a result of the United Kingdom being less united these days. The Scottish version applies to any person who \u201c(a) releases, or allows to escape from captivity, any animal (i) to a place outwith its native range; or (ii) of a type the Scottish Ministers, by order, specify; or (b) otherwise causes any animal outwith the control of any person to be at a place outwith its native range\u2026.\u201d But this is about British<\/em> beavers, so further discussion of that is outwith the scope of this article.<\/p>\n So, can one release a beaver in Britain? Well, it seems safe to say beavers don\u2019t \u201cregularly visit\u201d Great Britain, unless maybe they\u2019re sneaking over the Scottish border. But aren\u2019t beavers \u201cordinarily resident\u201d in Britain to begin with? The answer is \u2026 maybe?<\/p>\n They used to be, but according to the BBC they were \u201chunted to extinction 400 years ago\u201d for their meat, pelts, and a substance they secrete called castoreum<\/a>. Like most things that get \u201csecreted\u201d (Wikipedia says \u201cexuded,\u201d which isn\u2019t better), castoreum sounds pretty nasty. But it\u2019s used in perfumes and even as a food additive. And according to Wikipedia, \u201c[c]astoreum has been traditionally used in Sweden for flavoring a variety of schnapps commonly referred to as B\u00e4verhojt<\/em> (lit. \u2018beaver shout\u2019),\u201d so now you know that<\/em> fact. See also <\/em>\u201cTales from the Fringe: Beaver Gland Vodka<\/a>,\u201d Punch<\/em> (Feb. 6, 2015) (\u201c\u2018Take a smell of that,\u2019 said Bill Guiles, a retired construction foreman turned full-time mountain man, clapping a piece of dried meat into my hand\u201d; describing the vodka as tasting like \u201can attic full of musky leather saddles soaked in sweat.\u201d).<\/p>\n Probably it was mostly the pelts.<\/p>\n Whatever the reason, people hunted them to the point that beavers were long believed to be extinct in Britain. Accordingly, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 originally listed them as a regulated \u201cnon-native\u201d species. But in 2013, \u201cvideo evidence emerged\u201d of a wild beaver family living in, I guess ironically, the River Otter in Devon. And eventually, therefore, beavers were moved to the list of regulated native <\/em>animals\u2014something that was accomplished by, I\u2019m pleased to say, The Beavers (England) Order 2022<\/a>. That order also added \u201cBeaver, Eurasian\u201d to a list of protected species (\u201cafter the entry for \u2018Bats, Typical,’\u201d as the order put it).<\/p>\n This means 14(1)(a) doesn\u2019t apply because beavers are now ordinarily resident in Britain again. So one could freely release them\u2014unless<\/em> they also appear in Schedule 9, in which case 14(1)(b) is a problem. And they do. They are listed in Part IA, along with other regulated native species, all of which seem to be birds. Unfortunately, none are very funny. Funnier species like the Fat Dormouse, Edible Frog, Slipper Limpet, Aesculapian Snake, and False Virginia Creeper are assigned to other lists, though probably not for that reason.<\/p>\n But we do have the beaver, which we now know cannot be released without a license. Yet \u201cBen\u201d and the other members of the underground beaver-releasing network are flouting this law. Why? Because beavers are great. \u201c[T]hey can reduce risk of flooding,\u201d Ben said, and \u201cmitigate the damage that a drought can bring \u2026. What\u2019s not to like about this?\u201d The National Farmers Union found something, namely the potential damage unlicensed beavers can do to crops and trees, in addition to flooding land with their dams. The NFU had nothing against beavers per se<\/em>, it just wants the legal process followed. <\/p>\n But that means delay. The article mentions the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, which applied for a license to release beavers at one site. They are very happy with the work their beavers have been doing. \u201cWe have seen this site be absolutely transformed,\u201d said a representative the BBC identified as \u201cbeaver officer Lauren Jasper.\u201d According to Jasper, the resident beaver family has finished two dams, creating an \u201camazing wetland area that\u2019s now brimming with wildlife.\u201d But these aren\u2019t the beavers they applied for. During the two years it took to get a license, a pair of independent beavers \u201cturned up\u201d at the site, possibly thanks to the aforementioned conspirators. Beaver Officer Jasper stressed that CWT does not support unlicensed release, notwithstanding the good work their rogue beavers have done.<\/p>\n The beaver releasers don\u2019t want to wait. \u201cToo bureaucratic,\u201d Ben told the BBC. The beavers need to be out there doing their thing. Still, releasing them is<\/em> illegal, which is why this is happening covertly under cover of darkness. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to be caught with a box of beavers in the boot,\u201d said Ben, \u201cso you have to be quite quick. You open the door, do it, and drive away.\u201d The beavers take it from there.<\/p>\n To date, the conspirators have gotten away with it. There have<\/em> been prosecutions for illegal releases in England, said Detective Inspector Mark Harrison, but so far none involving beavers. \u201cThe reason for that is because we\u2019ve got no evidence,\u201d he said, which I guess in England is still a reason not to prosecute someone. One also suspects that the fight against illegal beaver releasing is not the highest priority for law enforcement, but that may change. So if you feel the need to do God\u2019s work, do it at night and do it quick. You don\u2019t want to be caught with a box of beavers in the boot.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
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