Leave it to beaver as rodent receives protected status after Scottish revival
Beavers will be given legal protection in Scotland after an attempt by a Conservative MSP to prevent the move was voted down.
The animals will now be added to a list of European protected species, meaning culling can only be carried out under licence.
Licences, managed by Scottish Natural Heritage, will also be required to remove dams more than two weeks old.
Tory MSP for Ayr John Scott told the Scottish Parliament’s environment, climate change and land reform committee that beavers were“illegally” released in the River Tay catchment area and grew from around 146 in 2012 to up to 500 by 2018.
He said they cause damage to farm land through dam building, which can cause floods and affect the structure of riverbanks, causing thousands of pounds to fix.
Mr Scott, who is a farmer, said beaver activity could hit wild salmon stocks. He raised concerns dams could affect flood mitigation schemes and cause flooding upriver, posing a flood risk to Perth.
Putting forward a motion to annul the legislation change at the committee meeting, he said: “Illegally released beaver numbers are growing very rapidly without protection.
“This statutory instrument will offer protection, allowing the beaver population to grow even more rapidly, all of which comes at a cost.”
He added: “Now is not the time to be introducing beavers into Scotland and affording them this protection .”
Environment secretary Roseanna Cunningham said she did not recognise Mr Scott’s “somewhat apocalyp - tic” vision of the future of beaver sin Scotland. She said it was not a question of reintroducing the species as the animals were already present having been released around the River Tay either by accident, negligence or as a deliberate illegal act prior to 2009.
That year, a Scottish Government- run trial successfully reintroduced the species to Knapdale Forest in Argyll and Bute.
Beavers became extinct in Britain in the 16 th century, mainly due to over-hunting.