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

Content warning:

Contains scenes of the killing of coypu which some may find upsetting

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From the collection of

East Anglian Film Archive at the University of East Anglia
The East Anglian Film Archive, the UK's first regional film archive, offers a unique record of the East of England's social and cultural history. As part of the University of East Anglia, we continue to lead moving image heritage research and inspire audience participation through community projects and events. Our collections represent a broad range of amateur and professional creativity, from 1896 to the present day.

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.


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