Needham

"������ this means is that the sort of habitat modification that beavers can do through damming, building lodges, digging canals - this can create habitats for other species, and they can increase biodiversity," said Dr Needham.

"They were hunted for predominantly their fur but also for the castoreum which is an internal gland that was used for medicinal purposes and, until very recently, in perfumes," said Robert Needham, restoration manager at Beaver Trust.

“One thing that doesn’t factor into Caro’s book is how aligned those plans are with some of the central institutions of liberalism. I mean, his most powerful backer is the New York Times,” observed Andrew Needham, a historian at New York University.

Wilmore, 61, is a former combat pilot from Mount Juliet, Tennessee, and Williams, 58, is a helicopter pilot from Needham, Massachusetts.

The team, which included Lisa-Maria Needham, a former postdoctoral researcher who is now a laboratory director at the University of Cambridge, has filed a patent for the device.