The first ever baby beaver to be hand reared in the UK has been nursed back to health by wardens at WWT Martin Mere in Lancashire.
Click here to watch footage of baby beaver at play.
Baby beaver has been called Wizzy after the late Pat Wisniewski, who first brought the beavers to Martin Mere in 2007.
Visitors to Martin Mere would usually be able to see Wizzy in this exercise enclosure everyday between 12pm and 2pm. He comes out at that time because his sleeping area and pond needs to be cleaned out and we need to ensure he gets his exercise. Unfortunately, Wizzy is not currently out at that time as he has a slight problem with his right hind leg. He is, however, free to come and go as he chooses so you may still get to see him. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.
Mum and Dad are Twiggy and Woody, the pair of adult beavers at Martin Mere whose nocturnal activities captured on night vision cameras made them the undisputed stars of Autumnwatch last year. The baby beaver was found injured back in June 2009, when he was believed to be just weeks old, and taken out of the enclosure for intensive daily veterinary treatment.
A specially designed enclosure was made for baby beaver in the treatment area and he has now finished his antibiotics and has made a full recovery. He loves his food, especially sweetcorn and sweet potato, and enjoys playing with his cuddly beaver toys by snuggling up to them and taking them into the pond.
Wizzy will never be able to return to the main beaver enclosure. His enclsoure has now been extended as he has grown to include an exercise yard for him where he can run around, eat food, bite on bark and play with cuddly toy beavers that keep him company.
Centre Manager, Andy Wooldridge, said: "Finding baby beaver was a real surprise for us and it is a credit to our aviculture staff that they have nursed him back to health with such limited knowledge of beaver treatment available to us. We are delighted with his progress, he has loads of character and loves to have human contact; I think he will enjoy seeing our visitors as much as they will enjoy seeing him”.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
