The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Art project established to remember 87 beavers who were legally shot
INITIATIVE: People have sent in a number of entries from around globe
An art project set up to remember the 87 beavers which were legally shot in Tayside this year has attracted dozens of entries from around the world.
The Perthshire-based Scottish Wild Beaver Group has teamed up with Extinction Rebellion Scotland to launch the 87 Beavers: In Memoriam project.
It comes after Scottish Natural Heritage revealed how many of the creatures were shot under licence last year.
Until July 31, organisers will be collecting paintings, drawings, poems and other artworks.
Entries from around the UK, Germany, America and Canada have flooded in, and are being displayed on the project’s website.
Pupils from primary schools across Angus have also been getting involved in the project, submitting beaver collages and acrostic poems,.
Some teachers helped pupils to build dams in their playgrounds after watching a Sir David Attenborough documentary about the rodents with their classes.
The 87 beaver artworks will be displayed online and in spaces around Scotland.
Organiser Robert Alcock said: “The idea for the 87 Beavers: In Memoriam art-action arose more or less directly following SNH’S sad announcement.
“Art is an effective way to get a message across to people who might otherwise not hear it.
“The aim is not just to commemorate the beavers, but also to raise awareness.”
Beavers were reintroduced to
Scotland in Knapdale in 2009 by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, in partnership with the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and Forestry and Land Scotland, after a 400-year absence in the wild.
The trial scheme was deemed a success by the Scottish Government in 2016 and the reintroduction was made permanent.
The Tay catchment population has grown from beavers which were either released illegally or escaped into the wild. There are more than 400 of the animals there and in some areas their presence has led to conflict with farmers and other landowners.
They were given protection under the law in May last year but people can apply to Scottish Natural Heritage for licences to control them.