A pair of beavers from the Cornish Seal Sanctuary have been released in the Par and Fowey river catchment.

The pair, ‘Parsnip’ and ‘Turnip’, were released on Friday, February 13, as part of Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s series of fully licensed beaver releases.

This is the first time the Cornish Seal Sanctuary has released a beaver pair into the wild in Cornwall.

Parsnip and Turnip have been living as an established pair in the Sanctuary’s four-acre beaver enclosure since December.

They were both were translocated to Cornish Seal Sanctuary because they have a dedicated 'beaver nursery' which has been specifically built to house kits who aren’t quite ready to live in larger woodland areas.

The enclosure has allowed the pair to build the skills necessary to survive as adults before they were released into the wild.

One year old female, Parsnip, arrived at the Seal Sanctuary in December, and was translocated from Forestry England’s Cropton Forest enclosure, having spent a little time at Flamingo Land in Yorkshire along the way.

The male, Turnip, had been at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary since 2024 and was a hand-reared orphan rescued by the Scottish SPCA.

Their progress following the release will be monitored by the Cornwall Wildlife Trust team and it is hoped that they will thrive in their new fully wild environment.