Save Beavers In Scotland - Please Sign The Petition

Image from @scotlandtbp (c)

The return of beavers to Scotland has been of the great conservation stories of recent years (and we really need positive stories). They are now a protected species, as they should be. However, despite this, last year one in five Scottish beavers were killed.

As well as being beautiful animals in their own right beavers create habitats, boost biodiversity, and help prevent floods. They are becoming a tourist attraction too. I haven't seen beavers in Scotland myself yet, though I have been to one of their habitats and seen gnawed tree stumps, but I have watched them in North America and Scandinavia. I've marvelled at their dams and the series of ponds they create, which support a wealth of wildlife, regulate water flow, and improve water quality.

Beavers cause few problems but they can damage crops, which leads some farmers to kill them. Until beavers received legal protection last year farmers could do this as they wished. That protection isn't complete however and licences to kill beavers can be obtained from Scottish Natural Heritage. 87 were shot in the last year.

Image from @Scots Beavers (c)

Rather than shooting beavers they should be relocated. There are many suitable areas in Scotland. I'd love to see them here in Strathspey. However the Scottish Government does not permit this.

Trees for Life and the Scottish Rewilding Alliance have started a petition calling on the Scottish Government to allow the relocation of beavers. At the time of writing this has 7,593 signatures. Many more are needed. Please sign if you care about wildlife. Beavers could have a great future in Scotland.

 

Some Good Conservation News: Scottish Beavers Can Stay

Beaver ponds on Vinal Creek in the Purcell Mountains, Montana

All too often conservation news is bad. It's about dead raptors, mountain hare slaughter, the destruction of wild land by developments, about a desperate-seeming struggle to try and protect what's left. Occasionally though there's a positive story, a story that gives hope for the future, that eases the burden of concern. That was the case this week when the Scottish Government announced that beavers are to be officially recognised as a native species and that the two populations already existing in Scotland - those in the official reintroduction trial in Knapdale in Argyll and the unofficial ones along the River Tay - can remain.

The last beavers were exterminated in Scotland in the sixteenth century. Now, after 400 years, they are not only back but protected. This is very significant as it's the first formal reintroduction of a mammal ever in Scotland and the whole of the UK.

I think this is excellent news for the beavers, for wild land, and for the future. It sets a precedent that mammals can be reintroduced. It's the most cheering news for quite a while.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust was one of the lead partners in the Knapdale trial. There's much more information on the SWT website.