Scottish Beaver Trial

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Visit the official Scottish Beaver Trial website for more information and to watch a video of the beaver release.

Beaver family © Jonathan Usher Smith Scottish Wildlife Trust, in partnership with the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) and Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS), has now released the first beavers to live in Scotland in over 400 years. This marks the UK’s first-ever formal wild reintroduction of a native mammal species.

Released in May 2009, the beaver families are now settling in to their new home in Knapdale Forest, Mid-Argyll. This release is for a time-limited five-year period (2009-2014), during which time an independent scientific monitoring programme will take place to assess the effect beavers have on the local environment as well as how the well the beavers settle in to Scotland.

We will continue to work on the ground to track the beavers’ progress while Scottish Natural Heritage, the body tasked with co-ordinating the independent scientific monitoring of the trial, will report to the Scottish Government on whether the conditions of the licence are being met on the ground. This trial will help to decide the future of beavers in Scotland.

Why bring back beavers?

Beavers are a native species which have been missing from the UK since the 16th Century, when man hunted them to extinction. Beavers are a missing element of our native biodiversity and they are a species worth having in any ecosystem. Known as a ‘keystone’ species, the presence of beaver should bring a vast number of benefits to other native Scottish wildlife as well as wetland and waterside habitats. By modifying their habitats through coppicing, feeding and, in some cases, damming, beavers create ponds and wetlands which attract other species, provide a food source to others, and can even help improve water quality

Our trial reintroduction follows in the footsteps of 24 other European countries, who have already reintroduced beavers to over 150 different sites.

Licence granted

The Scottish Government approved a licence for the release of the beaver families in Knapdale Forest in May 2008, following a two-month long public consultation which showed that 73% of respondents were in favour of the trial.

Can you see beavers now?

We hope to see many people visiting the trial site over time, but the beavers do need time to settle in before meeting the neighbours. Visitors will stand a better chance of seeing beaver signs, and maybe even some beavers, by waiting until late summer 2009 to make their trip to the trial site. By timing your visit in the early morning or early evening, you will have the best chance of spotting these intriguing animals in the wild.

How can you help?

With £250,000 left to raise to support the beaver trial over the next five years, every gift makes a vital contribution to our project. Donate online or join SWT as a member today and become a beaver supporter!

With a lot of work to be done on the ground, there are opportunities for volunteers with relevant experience to help with work in the field. Please visit www.scottishbeavers.org.uk to see if you have what it takes to help track Scotland’s first wild beavers.

Supported by:

The John Ellerman Foundation, Albert George & Nancy Caroline Youngman Trust, The European Nature Trust, The J & JR Wilson Trust, The Craignish Trust and The Mackintosh Foundation.

The Scottish Beaver Trial is a partnership project between the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, the Scottish Wildlife Trust and host Forestry Commission Scotland to undertake a time-limited trial reintroduction of European beavers to Knapdale, Mid-Argyll. For more information, visit www.scottishbeavers.org.uk/

The Scottish Government has asked Scottish Natural Heritage to coordinate the independent scientific monitoring of the trial, reporting on whether the conditions of the licence are being fully addressed on the ground.