By the time a mother beaver named Willow waddled into a clearing, a hush had fallen over an excited crowd taking part in a “beaver safari” in the British capital.
The mammals may have become a local attraction, but the colony also appears to have helped solve a long-term problem in the neighbourhood. Simply by doing what beavers do best — building dams — they have protected nearby streets and Greenford tube station from routine flooding.
“Everything downstream is much more protected from flooding than it was before, all because they want to hold that water back so that they have enough water to swim in and feel safe,” said Şeniz Mustafa, with the Ealing Beaver Project.