Beaver reintroductions in the UK

Some excellent homegrown news! Now, what are the chances of doing the same for lynx, wolf and bear? If there is belief, it CAN happen.
 
I think that Eurasian Lynx is the carnivore to bring back first. There are areas where deer numbers need to be kept under control, and lynx simply don't have the same aura about them as wolves.

Any return of the Grey Wolf , and even more so the Brown Bear, IMHO will hinge upon large scale re-afforestation in Scotland (maybe in parts of Northern England as well). Putting back forest would give the variety of food that bears would need, and it would mean that deer had to be kept down and sheep kept out; the latter essential if locals and wolves are going to live together in harmony.

TBH, for the time and trouble that bringing back large mammalian carnivores in Britain will entail (lynx maybe excepted) I wonder if the money wouldn't be better spent on getting White-tailed and Golden Eagle re-established in suitable areas within England and Wales.
 
I love the fact that this is presented as a great achievement,

In terms of asking 'can beavers live in the wild in Scotland and can they breed' then the answer is yes
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Then they quietly slip in the bit about 150 beavers on Tayside, which have proven exactly that!!!! I was also told by someone who has researched them that the source of the Tayside beavers was known.
 
Davef68 said:
I love the fact that this is presented as a great achievement,



Then they quietly slip in the bit about 150 beavers on Tayside, which have proven exactly that!!!! I was also told by someone who has researched them that the source of the Tayside beavers was known.
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The Tayside beavers already proved that, rendering this 'trial'( as such) pointless. I like the way that info is presented in almost a one liner right at the end.:rolleyes:

If their source/origin is known, are the Tayside beavers also known to be either Canadian or Eurasian? I wonder what the future holds for them either way.
 
I agree with everything you wrote.

Just what was the source then (and source population)?
Where these Eurasian beaver Castor fiber?
 
They are believed to be Eurasian

Welcome - Tayside Beaver Study Group

is the 'official' body. An enthusiast one can be found here:

Tay Beavers Origin | Scottish Wild Beavers

The fact that this was kept quiet for so long is perhaps just as interesting - I suspect there was either a 'lalalala, we're ignoring them' attitude OR a 'Let's establish a proper controlled release, then we can show that it is safe' so the Tayside one can be acknowledged and left alone.

I heard about them from a relative that fishes about 2004/5

For a real consipracy

The Tayside Beavers - A 400 Year Conspiracy of Silence? - Highland Perthshire News
 
Put it this way - I was hearing rumours about beaver sightings in Tayside and also, interestingly enough, Glen Nevis back in the 1990's!
 
I like the idea that Capers may never actually have died out in Scotland, at least in the Loch Lomond area.:)

I suppose regarding the Beavers, it can never be proved either way how long they have been there. Hopefully if the Tayside ones are Eurasian, that will be their passport to a longterm stay also.
 
It's a bit of a shame, but introductions should be properly managed. Do we even know if these are Eurasian beavers in Devon?
 
Any Zoo that takes them would likely be doing so mainly for the publicity- they are one of the worst exhibits in captivity, being almost exclusively nocturnal. So all that the visiting public usually see is an empty enclosure.
 
Or to actually take care of the animals. Or it could be both, a good act done for a selfish reason is still good.
 
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lamna said:
It's a bit of a shame, but introductions should be properly managed. Do we even know if these are Eurasian beavers in Devon?
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I agree, although reading the article really does not indicate one way or the other. If it is accidental escapes …, we have many of those in Europe involving raccoon, mink et cetera, it remains a difficult one.

But once in the habitat and having become established it becomes a bit pointless to call for all out removal. Unless genetic testing can prove that these are not Castor fiber, but Castor canadensis. In which case I would see a reason for (partial) removal.

It seems right now those calling for removal are a fringe lot and a self proclaimed interest group in fishing / angling. Plus … of course that issue of disease-risk is too preposterous for words being cited as the reason for removal.

It is good the Devon WT remains on top here and is in discussions with DEFRA as we speak.

Really, serious scientific questions need to be asked over the beaver as a species for and in the UK: A) habitat quality and availability, B) impacts on environment, C) water quality (beavers improve that …), D) food availability, E) connectivity to other wildlife areas / habitats and F) selection of individuals …. et cetera et cetera.

Devon seems like a good stamping / errrh starting ground to start a serious discussion to bring back the beaver to the UK in my mind. Think of European otter …., which has been part of a successful establishment project thanks in large part to NGO's like The Otter Trust.
 
There have been quite a few beaver reintroductions either in the last few months or planned to happen soon. They include:

- A release of two beavers into a 6.5 hectare enclosure in the Forest of Dean; the release took place on July 24th 2018.
- Up to eight beavers will be released into Cropton Forest on the North York Moors, partly to help control flooding that threatens downstream settlements like Pickering.
- A breeding pair of beavers will soon be released into a 4 hectare enclosure at Spains Hall Estate near Braintree in Essex. Part of this project will involve comparing the effectiveness of beavers against a man-made food management system set up in a nearby stream. A film about the project will be released next year.

There is a bit of information about all three projects on this website:
BACE | Beavers in England

Further information about the North York Moors reintroduction is here:
Specieswatch: beavers chip in to boost Yorkshire flood defences

Included here is more information about the Essex project:
Beavers to return to Essex for the first time in 400 years
 
Three families of beavers are to be introduced on land managed by the National Trust as part of plans to ease flooding and improve biodiversity.

Two Eurasian beaver families will be released next spring into enclosures at Holnicote estate on Exmoor, in Somerset, and another group will arrive at Valewood on the Black Down estate, on the border of West Sussex and Surrey.
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...in-plan-to-ease-flooding-and-aid-biodiversity
Beavers to be released in plan to ease flooding and aid biodiversity
 
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