The Telegraph reports that beavers have been reintroduced into a Yorkshire forest to tackle flooding as part of five year experiment.

On Wednesday Forestry England released a pair of Eurasian beavers from Scotland to Cropton Forest to determine whether the creatures can slow floodwater by building dams, the first trial of its kind ever undertaken. It follows a project in nearby Pickering which showed that building artificial dams can have a major impact on rising water levels.

Photo by Pat Gaines under creative commons