Call for fresh approach as Scotland’s beaver killing season begins
The future of Scotland’s fragile population of wild beavers is at risk as this year’s beaver killing season begins, says the Scottish Rewilding Alliance, a coalition of 24 leading environmental charities, countryside access organisations, businesses and community groups.
Scotland’s baby beavers are officially seen as no longer dependent on their mothers from 17 August – meaning farmers with unwanted beavers on their land can again apply for licences to shoot beavers. Last year, 87 beavers, a fifth of the Scottish population, were shot. There are fears the scale of the killing could be replicated this year.
The Scottish Government says beavers cannot be relocated outside of their existing river catchments, and can only spread naturally from their ranges in Knapdale in Argyll and Tayside – leaving farmers whose crops are sometimes damaged by beavers with little option but to apply for a licence to kill the animals.
The Alliance says each beaver shot is a wasted life that could have helped to rewild Scotland. Beavers build small dams – creating nature-rich wetlands that support a wealth of wildlife and soak up carbon dioxide, and which reduce flooding and improve water quality. Beavers can also benefit local communities by becoming a tourist attraction.
“Beavers are brilliant for wildlife and people, but in Scotland they’re at risk as a species because the Scottish Government allows their legal killing. Needless bloodshed could be reduced by allowing beavers to be moved to where they would be welcome,” said Steve Micklewright, the Scottish Rewilding Alliance’s Convenor and Chief Executive of rewilding charity Trees for Life.
Since Scotland’s beavers became a protected species in May 2019, those wanting to kill beavers or remove their dams or lodges must obtain a licence from Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).
Rebecca Wrigley, Chief Executive of Rewilding Britain, said: “Beavers can be key allies in tackling the climate and nature crises. Every signature on the Scottish Rewilding Alliance petition will help show the Government it should save the country’s fragile wild beaver population.”
The petition – which can be supported at treesforlife.org.uk/savebeavers until 27 August – has already been signed by almost 8,000 people. It is on track to being one of the most supported on the Scottish Parliament’s petition website in recent years.
The Alliance hopes to trigger a parliamentary debate. It says that allowing beavers to be relocated within Scotland would support the Scottish Government’s stated commitment to tackle the connected crises of climate breakdown and nature loss.
“There are many landowners who would love to have beavers on their land. Moving not killing beavers would be a more humane and forward-looking approach to the conservation of this struggling species. It will also help address fears that a genetic bottleneck is developing in the Tayside beaver population,” said James Nairne, Trustee of Scottish Wild Beaver Group.
SNH has identified over 100,000 hectares of ‘core beaver woodland’ in Scotland where beavers can thrive. In areas of the Highlands, for example, SNH has identified many beaver-friendly locations, often surrounded by land with low sensitivity to beaver impacts.
“Despite warnings that beavers could be facing a second extinction on these shores, right now the Scottish Government’s policy is leading to preventable beaver deaths – putting this recently reintroduced and protected species into danger. Most people want beavers back – moving not shooting would help ensure beavers fully establish themselves in Scotland and remain a feature of our countryside,” said Peter Cairns, Director of SCOTLAND: The Big Picture.
Carol Evans, Director of Woodland Trust Scotland, said: “Allowing beavers to be shot in huge numbers, rather than simply allowing them to be moved to areas where landowners would welcome them, makes a mockery of their protected species status. We’re calling on the Scottish Government to show the political will to welcome the species back properly once and for all.”
Scotland’s beaver killing season restarts just weeks after the first official Red List for British Mammals, produced by the Mammal Society, included beavers as an endangered species.
It also comes just over a week after the UK Government’s landmark decision that England’s first breeding population of beavers for 400 years could remain in Devon, following a trial that highlighted how beavers benefit people and wildlife.
The Scottish Rewilding Alliance is a collaboration of organisations wanting to enable rewilding at a scale new to Scotland. See www.rewild.scot.
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I am sure the Alliance is well aware of the recent report by the League Against Cruel Sports which highlights the slaughter of thousands of upland animals to support shooting grouse for “sport”. Given this situation I would suggest it is a much higher priority to campaign for control of this devastating cull rather than the protection of a recently re-introduced species which does seem to be thriving.
It is possible to campaign against more than one thing at a time.
Presume your brain can concentrate only on one thing at a time?
Why is it that the first, second and third reactions of Politicians , SNH managers , farmers and any other so called “countryside mangers” to any wildlife that they feel is getting in their way is to kill it? It is a “fine” reception for the poor old beaver that was driven to extinction about 400 years ago, that when they return to their former home they are STILl being shot and killed.
Surely to God we can do better than this. We must do better.
There are at present 77 RSPB reserves in Scotland alone. Maybe only a fraction of them could take beavers, but that would still mean a capacity to take one hell of a lot of unwanted beavers – Insh Marshes is definitely suitable, I would imagine Loch of Strathbeg, Abernethy, Baron’s Haugh are too. I’m positive they’d love beavers at Glenfeshie and the new owners at Kildrummy who want to turn it from a sporting estate into a wildlife friendly one would probably like some too. Not forgetting Alladale, Mar Lodge….. Scotland could easily absorb decades worth of beaver population growth without having to piss off any farmers, but of course the more rabid members of the angling fraternity and those who see the beaver as the thin end of the rewilding wedge have probably got the ear of our politicians. Congrats for Trees for Life setting up this petition it looks as if it could be a historic one, one of the very highest number of signatures ever.
77/77 is still a fraction.
Still it would be a real shame if activists took the law into their own hands out of frustration with the intransigence with the government and the landowners. And maybe some beavers ended up in Glasgow, Ayrshire, or down west. It’d surely be a real shame if that happened. I mean, given that the beaver only exists in the wild because of frustration with that intransigence in the first place. Surely, a true shame if the law being an ass inspired law breaking.
There are ‘wild’ beavers on the river Wye and it seems somebody has a predilection for dropping them into rivers in south west England, as well as the Otter another couple of rivers down there have currently discrete populations. I would be amazed if there aren’t other groups currently under the radar. The ones on the Wye could do amazingly well, plenty of riverbank where you don’t need to build dams and a chance as on their early days on the Tay to build up a fair population before the crap starts.
Sadly here if any beavers turn up where they’ve clearly been given assistance Scotgov will yank them out ASAP. They did this with the Beauly beavers which were causing absolutely no problems but they really wanted to set an example and did so ruthlessly. It was made clear at a conference that if any beavers turn up in the Insh Marshes, which may well be the best place for them in the entire UK, then they’ll be removed immediately. If beavers turn up on the very margins of their existing range and it can’t be determined that they were taken there ‘illegally’ then I suspect Scotgov would leave them alone as they weren’t unequivocal illegals that their rural masters could bully them about.
We really should be embarking upon an emergency program of natural flood prevention work especially in the uplands as well as looking at where beaver could currently live. Instead there’s a big hullaballoo about the supposed ‘damage’ they do which in many cases isn’t them it’s the farming taken right up to the river’s edge in the first place. There’s going to be a phenomenal loss of money, damage to property and avoidable human misery caused because the presence of beaver in this country is to a large extent framed as a problem to a vocal minority rather than a brilliant boon to the millions at risk from flooding. My blood boils too Random and the faster beavers can get into areas away from the trigger happy moaning bastards the better.