East Devon's beavers should be left alone and allowed to flourish according to a leading UK beaver expert.
Westcountry-based Derek Gow – who runs a specialist wildlife consultancy and who has been involved with animal re-introductions for many years – believes that there is no scientific reason why the animals should be removed from the River Otter adding he will consider a legal challenge if Defra went ahead with the capture.
Earlier this week George Eustice, a minister in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), announced that there were plans to capture the first wild group of beavers to be spotted in England for around 500 years, and find a new home for them in a zoo or wildlife park.
But Mr Gow says: "Their removal from the Otter is a senseless move which is completely counterproductive.
"Defra feel that the habitat for them on the Otter is not suitable. This is rubbish – the bits I have seen are very good. Frankly they really don't know what they are talking about – it is a threadbare excuse."
Mr Gow explained: "We understand that the reasons given by Defra for the decision are as follows – that they are concerned about the potential these individuals may have to act as a transmission route for other wildlife and potentially humans or domestic dogs for Echinococcus multilocularis (EM).
"Also, that doing nothing in response to their presence would set a precedent should other individual or breeding groups of beavers appear elsewhere.
"We do not believe that either of these justifications are valid," said Mr Gow. "It is likely that the beavers present are the result of accidental escapes over time from a nearby captive population.
If this is the case then they cannot have EM – only wild beavers captured and imported from certain central European countries can harbour this condition as it does not currently exist in Britain."
Mr Gow believes genetic testing should be carried out to discover the parentage of the wild beavers now living near Ottery St Mary. He said if they were carrying the disease, they could be humanely destroyed .
"A precedent has already been set with regard to the acceptance in England of wild boar," said Mr Gow, quoting from the government's Species Action Plan of 2008.
This states: "Defra's underlying strategy for managing wildlife starts from the basis of no government intervention, with intervention only where there is a sound reason and evidence for doing so."
Mr Gow said: "The Eurasian beaver is a former native species. There is significant national and local support for the restoration of this species and a wider appreciation within society of the ecological benefits that would accrue from its presence. Britain is now the last large western European nation state where the species has not been reintroduced."
In conclusion, he said the beavers on the Otter should be captured and tested and – if clear of the EM disease – be tagged and re-released following a survey to ensure the river was a suitable home for them.
However, he said local communities should be made aware of the lifestyle and ecology of the Eurasian beaver and of the implications of them being re-established. He said: "If the communities democratically vote against beavers, then they should be captured and re-homed."
Mr Gow added that he and his colleagues would consider a legal challenge if Defra went ahead with the capture and re-homing programme.
