[registration_form]The Scottish Wildlife Trust is calling for the urgent introduction of legal protection for Scotland’s beavers following the discovery of a dead beaver on a wildlife reserve in Tayside.
Examination of the female beaver shows that it is likely to have died from an infection after being shot in the chest.
Jonny Hughes, Chief Executive, Scottish Wildlife Trust said, ‘We believe this animal was shot elsewhere while foraging and then died from its wounds after returning to its home territory.
Sadly, this beaver is likely to have suffered a slow and painful death, and the loss of the resident female may mean that the complex network of dams and lodges that have developed on the reserve will be abandoned.
Without legal protection beavers are subject to unregulated culling. There is no clear picture of how many beavers are being culled or whether this is being done humanely.
In addition to the significant positive effects that beavers can have on the natural environment, we realise that there some localised negative impacts that need to be managed. However, lethal control should be used as an absolute last resort and must be carried out humanely.
To ensure that beavers are allowed to spread throughout Scotland and any negative impacts are properly managed, the Scottish Government needs to begin the overdue process of giving beavers European Protected Species status as quickly as possible.‘.
According to the most recent survey there are an estimated 430 beavers in Tayside. It is unknown how many have been culled, but reports cited by Scottish Natural Heritage range from 50 to over 240.
In December 2018, the Trust, along with 17 leading environmental organisations and individuals, published an open letter calling on the Scottish Government to honour its pledge to introduce European Protected Species status for beavers, alongside a suitable management framework.
ENDS
4 Replies to “Scottish Wildlife Trust press release”
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Haven’t the Scottish Government already said that they will give Beavers the legal protection they need? So what on Earth is holding them up?
There’s a petition for the Scottish Parliament, currently being reviewed by the petitions team, aiming to get a comprehensive plan for and implementation of natural flood alleviation strategies across the country. We are surely at a stage where it’s beyond question that targeted tree planting, the insertion of woody material in streams and, la piece de la resistance – the reintroduction of the beaver can reduce flooding? Massive scope for riparian tree planting with added beaver in the uplands, where reducing the millions of pounds worth of damage to lower level homes, businesses and better quality farmland is better than subsidising activities that cause it! Unfortunately it will take us a lot longer to get the thousands of beavers we need for this when so many are being cruelly and ridiculously killed by those who hype up conflict, turn a blind eye to mitigation, and never ever mention their capacity to prevent damage. The petition points this out, and of course there must be quite a few grouse moors where trees and beavers need to be welcomed.
This is why it is important to get multiple populations set up as a matter of urgency. We’ve all our beaver in one basket right now, and if the farmers and keepers manage to wipe them out there then it is back to square 1. There needs to be a population set up in D&G around the Annan and Nith, and in Ayrshire around the river Irvine, a population on Kintyre, one on Arran, another in Renfrew, etc, hell even on the Lendal Water. Get them spread out enough and we minimise the chances of yobbos wiping them all out.
Why is nobody on this?
Please see the previous comment. The only problem is doing this legally and thereby openly and if ‘unauthorised’ populations turn up they’ll be removed one way or another. You”re right some would annihilate the population if they could, I’m not so sure the beaver was shot outside the reserve. In the very early days of the Knapdale trial one of the beavers may have been killed, shots were heard there by a member of the reintroduction team and her soldier boyfriend. Having seen what some in the keeper fraternity were saying about beavers I’d be very surprised if there aren’t those trying to wipe them out or at least create very extensive beaver free zones. Of course simultaneously there’s a huge need to reserve flooding via targeted tree planting and beaver reintroductions, predominantly in the uplands. We’ll need thousands of beavers to prevent tens of millions of pounds of flood damage – meanwhile the few we do have are being shot.