Get to know the Argyll beavers

The Scottish Wildlife Trust and Royal Zoological Society of Scotland are hosting a public event in Tayvallich Village Hall at 6pm on September 25 to give an update on the Scottish Beavers Reinforcement Project.

People will be able to meet project staff, find out more about the first year of work to reinforce beaver numbers in Mid Argyll and have their questions answered by the team. Light refreshments will be provided.

Over the past 12 months, the project has released six adult beavers into Knapdale Forest to bolster the population released during the Scottish Beaver Trial. All animals were screened by vets prior to release to ensure that they were healthy and disease-free.

The Scottish Beaver Trial began a time-limited, five-year project to test the reintroduction of Eurasian beavers to Knapdale in 2009. Then, in November 2016, the Scottish Government announced that Eurasian beavers would be granted European Protected Status and that the populations in Tayside and Argyll would be allowed to expand naturally.

The beaver families participating in the trial were all caught in the Telemark region of Norway and transported to quarantine facilities in Devon and Scotland. They all completed a statutory quarantine period before being released in the trial site. The beavers, and their effects, will continue to be monitored at Knapdale.

The project is led by Scottish Beavers, a partnership between the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and the Scottish Wildlife Trust. It is taking place on land managed by Forest Commission Scotland and has been licensed by Scottish Natural Heritage.