Beaver reintroductions in the UK
- Thread starter vogelcommando
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Today, the Cairngorms National Park Authority has committed to bringing the beaver back to the Cairngorms National Park.
It may be that the animals are released into the Spey catchment, as modelling work has identified around 7,000 hectares of highly suitable habitat in the area. Because the modelling work found that the chances of natural colonisation are low, due to physical barriers and challenging terrain, the beavers will be translocated.
More information can be found in the link below:
CNPA Board agrees to take the lead in bringing beavers to the Park - Cairngorms National Park Authority
It may be that the animals are released into the Spey catchment, as modelling work has identified around 7,000 hectares of highly suitable habitat in the area. Because the modelling work found that the chances of natural colonisation are low, due to physical barriers and challenging terrain, the beavers will be translocated.
More information can be found in the link below:
CNPA Board agrees to take the lead in bringing beavers to the Park - Cairngorms National Park Authority
I just saw some information on the Beaver Trust's Facebook page about the environmental benefits that have come from releasing two beavers into an enclosure as part of the Cornwall Beaver Project, and figured I would share it here.
Since 2017, the beavers have built eight dams, created six new ponds and three new streams and are storing 1,790 cubed metres of water.
In terms of biodiversity:
- Brown trout have doubled in size in the new beaver ponds
- 11 species of bat have been recorded including greater horseshoe, barbastelle, Daubenton's and noctule
- 17 species of dragon and damselfly have been recorded
- 3 species of mammal have been recorded on the site for the first time, including polecat and water shrew
- 10 species of bird have been recorded on the site for the first time, including water rail, green sandpiper and willow tit
Since 2017, the beavers have built eight dams, created six new ponds and three new streams and are storing 1,790 cubed metres of water.
In terms of biodiversity:
- Brown trout have doubled in size in the new beaver ponds
- 11 species of bat have been recorded including greater horseshoe, barbastelle, Daubenton's and noctule
- 17 species of dragon and damselfly have been recorded
- 3 species of mammal have been recorded on the site for the first time, including polecat and water shrew
- 10 species of bird have been recorded on the site for the first time, including water rail, green sandpiper and willow tit
Earlier this month, the RSPB announced that they have applied to translocate beavers from Tayside to Loch Lomond, using their nature reserve on the loch as the release site.
If the application is successful, it is hoped that up to eight beavers (likely a single family group or two pairs) will be released, perhaps as early as this autumn.
More information can be found in the link below:
Proposal to move beavers to Loch Lomond - Loch Lomond and Black Devon Wetlands - Our work - The RSPB Community
If the application is successful, it is hoped that up to eight beavers (likely a single family group or two pairs) will be released, perhaps as early as this autumn.
More information can be found in the link below:
Proposal to move beavers to Loch Lomond - Loch Lomond and Black Devon Wetlands - Our work - The RSPB Community
It has been announced today that, from 1st October 2022, the Eurasian beaver will have legally protected status in England - they will become a Schedule 2 species which will make it illegal to intentionally capture, kill, injure or disturb beavers, damage their breeding sites or territories.
More information can be found in the link below:
Eurasian beavers granted legal protection in England - Beaver Trust
More information can be found in the link below:
Eurasian beavers granted legal protection in England - Beaver Trust
Are there any total numbers given so far for the UK population currently
The most recent figures I can find are from 2020 (courtesy of The Beaver Trust) - at that time the British population of beavers was around 550 individuals, consisting of around 450 on the Tay catchment, 30 at the site of the official Scottish Beaver Trial, a further 20 on the River Otter and the remainder living in fenced enclosures.
Thanks. I wondered if they would import more to step up the introduction process?
Possibly they'll use more from the existing Tayside population- some farmers want this population controlled I believe. It was never a legal introduction in the first place.
Beavers seem to be rather quick to colonize any suitable habitat once a healthy population is established someplace. Personally I would stop with any imports and let beavers do their own thing. Any available cash that might be headed to such imports should be rather spent on habitat protection, and measures to minimise future human-animal conflict.
What reason would farmers give for culling them?
Beavers can undermine river banks, damage protective flood banks and block farmland drainage.
Dam building by beavers creates wetland habitat, which benefits a wide range of species but can causes farmers to lose valuable crops if this occurs on productive agricultural land.
The translocation of a family of beavers from Tayside to Loch Lomond has now been approved, making it the third site in Scotland to be be allowed to officially reintroduce beavers (the others being Knapdale and Argaty). The release is likely to happen in the new year, when the beavers will be caught from Tayside, given a series of health checks and then be released at Aber Burn.
More information can be found in the link below:
Beaver family to be moved to Loch Lomond - BirdGuides
A family group of seven beavers (a breeding pair, two yearlings and three kits) have been released at Loch Lomond, in the third official release of unfenced beavers since the reintroduction trial at Knapdale in 2009.
The beavers were captured in Tayside, transferred to Five Sisters Zoo for health checks and tests before they were released on Friday 27th January.
More information can be found in the link below:
Beavers successfully relocated to Loch Lomond
The beavers were captured in Tayside, transferred to Five Sisters Zoo for health checks and tests before they were released on Friday 27th January.
More information can be found in the link below:
Beavers successfully relocated to Loch Lomond
3 unfenced reintroductions in nearly 15 years... we're so incredibly bold as a nation when it comes to ecological restoration
Two of the young beaver kits released at Loch Lochmond have died, suspected of being predated by an otter. The one kit whose body was recovered had definitely been eaten by an otter, while the body of the second kit has not been recovered but it is suspected that it was also killed.
In the first year of life, mortality in young beavers can be quite high, with kits vulnerable to attack by otters, foxes, pine martens, birds of prey and large pike.
More information can be found in the link below:
Otter kills young beavers released at Loch Lomond
Natural England has published a report about an unfenced population of Eurasian beavers in the West Country of England. It is estimated that there could be anything between 36 and 62 adult beavers in sections of the rivers near Bath, Chippenham and Trowbridge, living in 13 families.
It is thought that most of these beavers were released sometime after 2016, although some may be descendants of animals which escaped from a private collection in the 2000s.
The beavers are now widespread, with the majority of families around the River Frome (a tributary of the Avon), plus four families on the Avon itself and one on the By Brook. There wasn't enough evidence to confirm the existence of beavers along the River Brue and Kennet and Avon Canal. In total, the beavers may occupy up to 11% of the available riverbanks in the areas of Wiltshire and Somerset where they live.
It is currently not thought that the beavers are having much effect on their environment, as most are still getting established in their new home. Some families however, have started to build dams and fell trees.
An article about the report can be found here:
Beaver families thriving in the West Country after unofficial reintroductions
It is thought that most of these beavers were released sometime after 2016, although some may be descendants of animals which escaped from a private collection in the 2000s.
The beavers are now widespread, with the majority of families around the River Frome (a tributary of the Avon), plus four families on the Avon itself and one on the By Brook. There wasn't enough evidence to confirm the existence of beavers along the River Brue and Kennet and Avon Canal. In total, the beavers may occupy up to 11% of the available riverbanks in the areas of Wiltshire and Somerset where they live.
It is currently not thought that the beavers are having much effect on their environment, as most are still getting established in their new home. Some families however, have started to build dams and fell trees.
An article about the report can be found here:
Beaver families thriving in the West Country after unofficial reintroductions
Three beaver releases in the Cairngorms National Park have now been approved by NatureScot. The current licenses will cover six beaver families across three sites - the Rothiemurchus Estate, near Aviemore; RSPB Scotland's Insh Marshes, near Kingussie; and land managed by Wildland Cairngorms.
Now that they have been approved, the releases will probably be happening early next year. The license also includes releases at other sites in the Cairngorms over the next five years, for a total of fifteen beaver families.
Two articles about the approved reintroduction can be found below:
Licence approved for beaver release in Cairngorms - BirdGuides
Beavers to be released at 3 River Spey sites: What you need to know
Now that they have been approved, the releases will probably be happening early next year. The license also includes releases at other sites in the Cairngorms over the next five years, for a total of fifteen beaver families.
Two articles about the approved reintroduction can be found below:
Licence approved for beaver release in Cairngorms - BirdGuides
Beavers to be released at 3 River Spey sites: What you need to know
Beavers are due to be released into a fenced enclosure in Shrewsbury during 2024. Shrewsbury beaver project: Boardwalk opens across new habitat