ELVERS attentively cared for by pupils at Berkeley Primary School have been released back into the wild.

The school was the first of four in the area to release young eels having looked after them through the Spawn to be Wild scheme.

For the past month pupils in years four and five have been looking after dozens of elvers through the Avon Wildlife Trust’s educational resettlement programme.

The elvers, donated to the trust by fishermen, were released into Doverte Brook in the grounds of Berkeley Castle by pupils on Monday.

“It’s been really, really good for the children,” year five teacher Sarah Fowkes told the Gazette. “Through Spawn to be Wild they’ve learned all about life cycles and the project has also been combined with other activities during lessons.

“They have also learned a lot about wildlife but most importantly have had to take responsibility for looking after the elvers.”

Pupils have taken turns to care for the elvers, regularly feeding them and changing the water to make sure they’re healthy enough to be released.

Spawn to be Wild is funded by Bristol Water and is designed to teach primary school pupils about the lives of elvers and to protect the species.

Barriers such as weirs and dams have prevented elvers from swimming upstream where they would normally live for up to 20 years.

This has led to a dramatic drop in the population of elvers across Europe leaving the species critically endangered.

Sustainable Eel Group, set up in 2010, to tackle declining populations across the continent has also been a keen participant in the project.

Chairman of the group, Andrew Kerr, attended the release praising the project for teaching young people about eels.

He said: “This is all part of a connected story. We’re working across Europe to protect elvers.

“Whilst numbers have improved recently the illegal trade of elvers, particularly from France and Spain to Asia, is incredibly frustrating. It’s Europe’s ivory scandal.”

Avon Wildlife Trust’s Spawn to be Wild scheme is in its third year and has seen pupils at schools across much of the South West take part in the conservation project.

Three other schools have taken part and will be releasing their elvers over the next week; Severn Beach Primary School (May 20) Crossways Primary School, Thornbury (May 23) and St Peter’s Primary School, Pilning (May 24).

Trust learning development manager, Kate Marsh, has been working closely with Berkeley Primary School over the past month.

“Elvers come here from the Sargasso Sea near Bermuda – a journey that takes them about two years,” she told the Gazette.

“Once they get here they try to swim up rivers where they will live for between 15 and 20 years before returning.

“Manmade structures have badly affected their ability to get up our rivers which has hit numbers.

“We’ve been teaching primary school pupils all about elvers to try and save the species in this region.”

For more information visit avonwildlifetrust.org.uk.