The Three That Got Away - The Story of the Coypu in Great Britain

The large-scale operation to exterminate coypus from the East Anglian countryside in the 1960s. An ‘Another World’ documentary for Granada.

PLEASE NOTE: This film contains scenes of the killing of coypu which some may find upsetting. This ‘Another World’ documentary tells the story of the nocturnal, primarily aquatic, vegetarian creature, and the trappers determined to exterminate them.

In the 1960s farmers throughout the East of England demanded action to control the numbers of coypu inhabiting the countryside. From just four escaping coypu (from a Norwich fur farm) numbers have grown to a staggering tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of the furry rodents. Whilst some would argue the coypu are fascinating and dear little creatures, the Ministry of Agriculture declare them a menace to the countryside, and a large-scale operation to exterminate them comes into force.