The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Beaver cull by farmers ahead of new rules
Tayside data reveals animals are being shot before a protection order is introduced by the Government
Farmers and gamekeepers in Tayside are shooting “as many beavers as possible” before a protection order comes in, it has been claimed.
The claim has emerged thanks to a freedom of information request and relates to a meeting involving Strathmore and Forfar farmers.
It is thought that around 150 beavers live wild on the Tay, the Earn and the Isla and other connecting rivers and burns.
There have been repeated delays by Scottish ministers in deciding whether to bring the animals under legal protection and there are no rules governing when or how they can be shot.
After a freedom of information request, the Scottish Government has released internal correspondence about beavers since June 2015 but blacked out all names.
On February 12 this year a correspondent emailed Holyrood officials saying they had recently given a talk to a meeting of the Strathmore and Forfar farmers in Angus.
The email stated: “It was clear from discussions that farmers and gamekeepers are shooting as many beavers as possible just now before they become protected.”
The reply from the environmental directorate said this was “depressing but not surprising” and asked for more details.
The correspondent responded stating: “I suspect they will be just shooting them in the water, which might result in injuries rather than death much of the time.
“Like seals that are shot in the water no doubt they will just float off downstream or die in their lodge.”
The Scottish Wild Beaver Group has called for “urgent action” by the Scottish Government to end their delay in protecting the animals.
Paul Ramsay from the group said: “This callous approach has already hardened the differences of attitude between conservationists and these farmers in ways that will be hard to undo.
“An urgent response is needed by the Scottish Government to protect these much-loved and beneficial animals, and to provide farmers with an incentive to look for a better response to the situation.”
The National Farmers’ Union in Scotland is opposed to the formal reintroduction of beavers in Tayside because of the damage they can cause to farmland.
“It remains a huge source of frustration to farmers across Tayside and Strathmore that decisions about the beaver population, illegally released without any appropriate permissions or safeguards, remain outstanding,” said Andrew Bauer, the union’s deputy policy director.
Itremainsa hugesource of frustration to farmers ... that decisions about the beaver population, ... remain outstanding. ANDREW BAUER OF THE NATIONAL FARMERS’ UNION
The latest round of furious claims over Tayside beaver control has added fuel to an already raging fire. Whether the animals are a welcome addition to our natural habitat or a pestilential menace to farmers, there is no denying that they are now back, thriving and here to stay.
Leaked documents appear to have revealed many landowners and estate managers are killing off the animals before Scottish Government legislation can be passed.
According to the emails the Scottish Government’s own environmental directorate described the situation as “depressing but not surprising”.
It seems clear, then, that the solution has to be a Holyrood decision to determine the future of the species.
The Scottish Wild Beaver Group has called for “urgent action” on the problem before relations between the warring factions on either side of the debate deteriorate further.
In suggesting that farmers are provided with incentives to stop culling beavers the organisation is at least putting forward something of an olive branch, although whether that will be grasped remains to be seen.
For its part, the National Farmers’ Union in Scotland has made it abundantly clear that it sees the rodents as an illegally introduced blight that causes severe damage to farmland.
It is now important that a swift and robust ruling is made.