Survey to estimate extent of beaver expansion in Tayside

WILDLIFE: Project will inform ‘management and mitigation measures’

A new survey to estimate the range and extent of beaver expansion across Tayside is beginning this week.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has commissioned the work following Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham’s decision in November that she was minded to allow beavers to remain in Tayside and Argyll and expand their range naturally.

The work will update the survey undertaken by the Tayside Beaver Study Group and SNH says the survey will ‘help develop management and mitigation measures’.

It will be led by a team from Exeter University, and involves specialists based in Scotland and England, including Professor Richard Brazier, who chaired the science and evidence forum for the river otter and Mid-Devon beaver trials, and experienced Scottish beaver worker Roisin Campbell-Palmer.

According to SNH, the new survey will investigate some areas where beaver sightings have recently been reported but not confirmed. These include the River Devon, the Balvaig and Garbh Uisge upstream of Callander, the Forth in the Carse of Stirling and the Black Water around Brig o’ Turk.

The fieldwork will involve walking the riverbank to look for field signs and evidence of breeding family groups and some of the work may be done from canoes on the rivers when risk of spate conditions is reduced.

The Exeter University-led survey team includes experience from across the UK, with SNH also appealing to the public to record any sightings through the Mammal Tracker app available free from the iTunes App Store and Android Market.

Picture: PA. Experts will investigate some areas where beaver sightings have been reported but not confirmed.