--- title: Beaver Colony in England to Be Returned to Habitat description: The government has cleared the beavers of disease canonical: https://time.com/3740322/beavers-england/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-11T14:24:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:19.503Z article:section: Science og:title: Beaver Colony in England to Be Returned to Natural Habitat og:description: The beavers are free of disease and will return to their natural habitat og:url: https://time.com/3740322/beavers-england/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Beaver Colony in England to Be Returned to Natural Habitat twitter:description: The beavers are free of disease and will return to their natural habitat twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Wild Beaver Colony in England to Be Set Free After Being Cleared of Disease > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Overstepping Boundaries: The Danger of Invasive Species [Watch (HLS stream): Overstepping Boundaries: The Danger of Invasive Species](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zHyAT7e9.m3u8) (2:18)  _Published 2013-12-04. What are invasive species, and why are they dangerous? TIME's Bryan Walsh explains how animals like the Asian carp, lionfish, and Burmese python can be a threat._  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Mar 11, 2015 2:24 PM UTC  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Mar 11, 2015 2:24 PM UTC Beavers in England were once hunted into near extinction, but a small colony of them [appears to be thriving](http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/11/beavers-allowed-to-live-wild-in-england-after-being-confirmed-disease-free) and will soon be returned to the wild after the animals were found to be healthy. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was originally going to keep a group of five beavers from the Otter River in captivity due to their risk of becoming infected with Echinococcus multilocularis, which can [cause a harmful parasite to grow in humans](http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/echinococcosis/gen%5Finfo/ae-faqs.html), _The Guardian_ reports. But after animal and environmental activists called for the beavers to be left alone, arguing that the species was an important part of the ecosystem, the plan has changed. Now that DEFRA has captured, tested and cleared the beavers of disease, the agency has handed over the animals to the Devon Wildlife Trust, which had applied in January for a five-year license to take care of the beavers and oversee their reintroduction. In a statement, the trust said the beavers were not injured during the testing and appear to be content in their temporary housing. “We are confident that we will be able to announce the beavers’ return to the Otter in the near future,” the group said. \[[_The Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/11/beavers-allowed-to-live-wild-in-england-after-being-confirmed-disease-free)\] ## Transcript One of the biggest threats to endangered species isn't poaching, or pollution, or climate change. It's other animals. Here's what you need to know. Just look at the Asian carp, invasive species that have been threatening the US for years. The carp were imported by Midwest and fish farmers in the 1970s, eventually escaped due to flooding. The fish, which can grow as large as 110 pounds, who have a habit of leaping out of the water like silver missiles when they're threatened, are voracious eaters. US officials were so worried that the carp would make their way all the way up to the Mississippi River, and into the Great Lakes' ecosystem, that the White House named a carp czar in 2010, and has since spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to defend the Lakes; but those efforts may be for naught. A new study found out last month that a number of grass carp, a subspecies of Asian carp, seemed to have established themselves in a river that leads directly in to the Great Lakes, which means they could be setting up the stage to breed for years. Then there's the lion fish, a spine three- tipped species that has wreaked havoc in the Atlantic since it was accidentally introduced during Hurricane Andrew back in 1992. Lion fish is a rapid breeder, and an indiscriminate hunter, consuming more than 40 species, including valuable commercial ones like the grouper. Like many invasive species, they're especially dangerous because native species have no innate fear of them until too late. On land, Burmese pythons, often released accidentally as pets by their owners, have begun to menace the Florida everglades. The python can grow nearly 20 feet, can take down everything from bobcats to small alligators. In 2012, [ unk ] the everglades from the drastic reduction in the number of small mammals that tend to make up the diet of the python, a sign the snakes are beginning to have a major impact on one of the most important ecosystems in the United States. Given the threat from invasive species, it's unsurprising that governments spend billions of dollars a year in trying to deal with it. And the problem's getting worse. Part of the [ unk ] mixing up habitats, putting animals from one part of the world to another; while growing international trade can ship species across the globe. The fight against invasive species has long been a losing battle, and [ unk ] led some scientists to say time to stop trying to fight. After all, a species that left its home in Africa millions of years ago has since spread to every corner of the world. It should be a familiar one. 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