Brussels' only beaver finds a companion

A lone beaver that settled on the Senne river in northern Brussels last year now has company, according to images captured by a motion-detecting camera.

“When I saw the images, I was really surprised and also quite moved,” said Benjamin Thiébaux of Brussels Environment.

“We assume that they are now a couple. In that case, there could be a beaver family in Brussels as early as next year.”

Beavers, who are Europe’s largest rodent, mate in winter and the young are then born in May or June.

The first beaver settled in the north of Brussels last year for the first time since the 19th century, Bruzz reports, choosing a recently opened section of the Senne south of the water purification plant as its habitat.

During a visit to the site earlier this year, an expert from Brussels Environment wondered whether the animal would ever have company, considering the only way for other animals to reach the beaver was from the north, where more specimens live in Vilvoorde.

A pair of beavers can now be seen in video footage captured by automatic motion-detection cameras. The same footage also shows one of the beavers diving underwater to the entrance of its burrow on the banks of the Senne.

“We now want to open up the section of the Senne near the water treatment plant in a beaver-friendly way,” said Thiébaux.

“The costs for this have been budgeted. It is up to the government to make the final decision.”

For Thiébaux, the discovery shows that investing in opening up the Senne is a worthwhile endeavour.

There are reports of another beaver in Brussels in the Sonian Forest near the Enfants Noyés ponds. It is not clear whether that specimen got there on its own or was released there.