Scientists to count ‘unofficial’ beaver colony

● Surveys aim to discover how many animals have set up home in Tayside

Scientists are beginning a new study to accurately establish how many “rogue” beavers are currently living in the wild around Loch Tay.

Beavers are native to Scotland but were hunted to extinction 400 years ago. It’s thought the Tayside population developed after individuals escaped or were illegally released from captivity.

Current estimates suggest there could now be up to 100 living along the network of rivers in the area.

Farmers have called for the animals to be removed because of the damage they cause to trees and flooding of agricultural land due to their dam-building. But Scottish ministers recently ruled that the species can remain in Scotland after a successful reintroduction project was carried out under licence in Argyll.

0 A new study will count the number of beavers living wild in Tayside, where a ‘rogue’ population has been thriving since at least 2001

The five-year project was run by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and the Scottish Wildlife Trust and involved scientific monitoring of 27 Eurasian beavers released in Knapdale Forest.

Now Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has commissioned surveys to provide an up-todate estimate of beaver family numbers in Tayside, which will begin this week.

The work will help develop management and mitigation measures after environment secretary Roseanna Cunningham announced in November that colonies could remain in Tayside and Argyll and be allowed to spread naturally.

A team led by the University of Exeter and involving specialists based in Scotland and England will carry out the research, which will update an earlier Tayside Beaver Study Group survey.

SNH is also appealing to the public to record any sightings of the beavers through the Mammal Tracker app.

The new survey will also provide the opportunity to investigate 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.

Fieldwork will involve walking riverbanks to look for signs of breeding family groups as well as water-based surveys working from canoes.

“The survey will give us upto-date information about the geographic range of beavers in and around Tayside, said Ian Jardine, chief executive of SNH.

“This will help us work with farmers and other land managers who may be affected.”

The Scottish Government’s decision to designate beavers as a native species has sparked a push for further formal reintroductions to be carried out in the northern Highlands.