Derek Gow – författare

“Derek Gow might be the most colorful character in all of Beaverdom.”—Ben Goldfarb, author of Eager

Read the 2021 Profile of Derek on NewYorker.com: "An Ark for Vanished Wildlife"

Bringing Back the Beaver is farmer-turned-ecologist Derek Gow’s inspirational and often riotously funny firsthand account of how the movement to rewild the British landscape with beavers has become the single most dramatic and subversive nature conservation act of the modern era. Since the early 1990s—in the face of outright opposition from government, landowning elites, and even some conservation professionals—Gow has imported, quarantined, and assisted the reestablishment of beavers in waterways across England and Scotland.

In addition to detailing the ups and downs of rewilding beavers, Bringing Back the Beaver makes a passionate case as to why the return of one of nature’s great problem solvers will be critical as part of a sustainable fix for flooding and future drought, whilst ensuring the creation of essential lifescapes that enable the broadest possible spectrum of Britain’s wildlife to thrive.

“Bringing Back the Beaver is a hilarious, eccentric and magnificent account of a struggle . . . to reintroduce a species crucial to the health of our ecosystems.”—George Monbiot

“A treasure.”—Booklist

"Gow has a fire in his belly. We need more like him."—BBC Wildlife magazine

"[Gow is] a wonderful storyteller, wisely allowing his animals (and considerable bedlam) to take center stage. His stories can be bawdy, laugh-out-loud funny, poignant, or even depressing, but they''re never dull."—Booklist

Birds, Beasts and Bedlam recounts the adventures of farmer-turned-rewilder Derek Gow, who is saving Britain’s much-loved but dangerously threatened species, from the water vole to beaver, wildcat to white stork, and tree frog to glow worm.

Derek tells us all about the realities of rewilding; how he reared delicate roe deer and a sofa-loving wild boar piglet, moved a raging bison bull across the country, got bitten by a Scottish wildcat, returned honking skeins of graylag geese to the land and water that was once theirs, and restored the white stork to the Knepp Estate with Charlie Burrell and Isabella Tree.

Derek’s first book, Bringing Back the Beaver, was a riotously funny and subversive account of his single-handed reintroduction of the beaver in Britain. Birds, Beasts and Bedlam, a natural successor to Gerald Durrell’s A Zoo in My Luggage, tells the story of Derek’s rewilding journey and his work to save many more species by transforming his Devon farm into a wildlife breeding center. He now houses beavers, white storks, water voles, lynx, wildcats, and harvest mice, with the aim of releasing them into the wild one day.

Tearing down fences literally and metaphorically, Derek Gow is the one person with the character and strength of will to defy authority, bend the rules—and save our wildlife.

"Gow reinvents what it means to be a guardian of the countryside."—The Guardian

"The radical rewilder."—The Times

"Derek Gow wants his farm to be a breeding colony, a seedbed for a denuded island."—The New Yorker

The Eurasian beaver was near extinction at the start of the twentieth century, hunted across Europe for its fur, meat and castoreum. But now the beaver is on the brink of a comeback, with wild beaver populations, licensed and unlicensed, emerging all over Britain.

As a keystone species, the beaver plays a vital role in the creation of sustainable wetland habitats through its damming activities, providing living opportunities for a broad spectrum of wildlife. Yet as proposals for reintroducing beavers are underway, re-establishing the beaver in Britain is still a controversial issue.

This book presents a case for our future coexistence with beavers by providing factual information on this species that has now passed from national memory, covering the biology, behaviour and ecology of the Eurasian beaver in a British context, from their early history in archaeology and folklore to their contemporary field signs in the wild. This book familiarises readers once again, after almost 400 years of its absence, with the Eurasian beaver, providing essential information on its requirements in our human dominated landscape.

This book is for those with a specific interest in beavers and their reintroduction, and for anyone with a general curiosity in natural history, ecology or animal behaviour. It can be used as a field guide to identify beaver field signs and observe beavers in the wild by wildlife surveyors or general land users, or as an introductory guide for anyone with an interest in beavers and how to recognise them.

The authors have been actively involved in the study of beaver ecology, behaviour and reintroduction for many years. They have a first-hand knowledge of beavers in captivity and in the wild in both Britain and a range of other European countries.

The Eurasian beaver was near extinction at the start of the twentieth century, hunted across Europe for its fur, meat and castoreum. But now the beaver is on the brink of a comeback, with wild beaver populations, licensed and unlicensed, emerging all over Britain.

As a keystone species, the beaver plays a vital role in the creation of sustainable wetland habitats through its damming activities, providing living opportunities for a broad spectrum of wildlife. Yet as proposals for reintroducing beavers are underway, re-establishing the beaver in Britain is still a controversial issue.

This book presents a case for our future coexistence with beavers by providing factual information on this species that has now passed from national memory, covering the biology, behaviour and ecology of the Eurasian beaver in a British context, from their early history in archaeology and folklore to their contemporary field signs in the wild. This book familiarises readers once again, after almost 400 years of its absence, with the Eurasian beaver, providing essential information on its requirements in our human dominated landscape.

This book is for those with a specific interest in beavers and their reintroduction, and for anyone with a general curiosity in natural history, ecology or animal behaviour. It can be used as a field guide to identify beaver field signs and observe beavers in the wild by wildlife surveyors or general land users, or as an introductory guide for anyone with an interest in beavers and how to recognise them.

The authors have been actively involved in the study of beaver ecology, behaviour and reintroduction for many years. They have a first-hand knowledge of beavers in captivity and in the wild in both Britain and a range of other European countries.

Beavers are widely recognised as a keystone species which play a pivotal role in riparian ecology. Their tree felling and dam building behaviours coupled with a suite of other activities create a wealth of living opportunities that are exploited by a range of other species. Numerous scientific studies demonstrate that beaver-generated living environments that are much richer in terms of both biodiversity and biomass than wetland environments from which they are absent. Emerging contemporary studies indicate clearly that the landscapes they create can afford sustainable, cost-effective remedies for water retention, flood alleviation, silt and chemical capture.

Beaver activities, especially in highly modified environments, may be challenging to certain land use activities and landowners. Many trialled and tested methods to mitigate against these impacts, including a wide range of non-lethal management techniques, are regularly implemented across Europe and North America. Many of these techniques will be new to people, especially in areas where beavers are newly re-establishing. This handbook serves to discuss both the benefits and challenges in living with this species, and collates the wide range of techniques that can be implemented to mitigate any negative impacts.

The authors of this handbook are all beaver experts and together they have a broad range of scientific knowledge and practical experience regarding the ecology, captive husbandry, veterinary science, pathology, reintroduction and management of beavers in both continental Europe and Britain.

Beavers are widely recognised as a keystone species which play a pivotal role in riparian ecology. Their tree felling and dam building behaviours coupled with a suite of other activities create a wealth of living opportunities that are exploited by a range of other species. Numerous scientific studies demonstrate that beaver-generated living environments that are much richer in terms of both biodiversity and biomass than wetland environments from which they are absent. Emerging contemporary studies indicate clearly that the landscapes they create can afford sustainable, cost-effective remedies for water retention, flood alleviation, silt and chemical capture.

Beaver activities, especially in highly modified environments, may be challenging to certain land use activities and landowners. Many trialled and tested methods to mitigate against these impacts, including a wide range of non-lethal management techniques, are regularly implemented across Europe and North America. Many of these techniques will be new to people, especially in areas where beavers are newly re-establishing. This handbook serves to discuss both the benefits and challenges in living with this species, and collates the wide range of techniques that can be implemented to mitigate any negative impacts.

The authors of this handbook are all beaver experts and together they have a broad range of scientific knowledge and practical experience regarding the ecology, captive husbandry, veterinary science, pathology, reintroduction and management of beavers in both continental Europe and Britain.

Longlisted for the James Cropper Wainwright Prize 2024 for Nature Writing

"Terrific, life-lit moments come howling out of Hunt for the Shadow Wolf."—The Telegraph

"One of the most remarkable figures in British conservation."—The Observer

"There have been several books on the fate of British wolves, but this is the best."—The Spectator

"[Derek Gow is] a wry, profane truth teller who is equal parts yeoman farmer, historical ecologist, and pirate."—Ben Goldfarb, author of Eager and Crossings

Renowned rewilder Derek Gow has a dream: that one day we will see the return of the wolf to Britain as it has already returned elsewhere. As Derek worked to reintroduce the beaver, he began to hear stories of the wolf, both real and mythical, and his fascination with this creature grew. With increasing curiosity, Derek started to piece together fragments of information, stories and artefacts to reveal a shadowy creature that first walked proud through these lands and then was hunted to extinction as coexistence turned to fear, hatred – and domination.

What Derek came to realize was that the underlying motives behind our hatred were actually far more prosaic and, like most persecutions, to do with power and profit. We turned the wolf into a savage beast and saw its extirpation as a civilizing mission. But the wolf survived far longer than many thought and Derek tells of his sightings of the wolf through folklore and mythology, the records of grand estates and parish churches as well as wolf heads, both real and recreated.

With bitingly funny but also tender stories, Hunt for the Shadow Wolf is Derek’s quest to uncover the true nature of this creature because, as we seek to heal our landscape, we must reconcile our relationship with it. Before we can even begin to bring the wolf back, we need to understand it.

"I have loved this chase dearly and though what unfolds might be an ending of sorts, I have no intention to let this hunt cease."―Derek Gow, from Hunt for the Shadow Wolf

"Beautifully crafted, fascinating and unbearably poignant, I totally loved this book."—Isabella Tree, author of Wilding

"Gow reinvents what it means to be a guardian of the countryside."—The Guardian