Beavers 'chased away by TV crew'

A family of four beavers who had constructed a lodge in the river Dijle in the centre of Leuven has left the city, chased away by a TV camera crew, it was claimed. According to Jan Loos, whose non-profit Landschap organised 'beaver safaris' to show the family to visitors, a crew from the VRT animal series Dieren in Nesten disturbed the beavers and broke down part of their lodge. The beavers have now left Leuven to move downstream towards Mechelen, Joos said. A spokesman for the VRT denied the crew had done anything wrong. “We would never disturb or pursue animals merely for the sake of good images,” Björn Verdoodt said.