Beavers to return to Loch Ness after 500-year absence

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 30 Oct, 14:07 · Archive

Up to 15 beaver family groups will be released around Loch Ness over three years, returning the species to waters where it was last recorded 500 years ago.

Beavers are to be reintroduced to the waters around Loch Ness, 500 years after they were last recorded there. NatureScot has approved the release of up to 15 beaver family groups by Trees for Life and the Beaver Trust over a three-year period, with the first reintroductions potentially happening as early as next month.

The animals being relocated from elsewhere in Scotland will be introduced at sites that have been carefully chosen to establish a thriving and connected beaver population. Specific sites will be announced once the beavers have been safely released, to allow them to settle without disturbance. The beavers were last widely recorded around Loch Ness between 1526 and 1527.

NatureScot assessed that beavers could "significantly improve" and "significantly boost" diversity in the River Ness catchment, with the landscape at low risk of negative impacts from their activity. The reintroduction will help increase the current range of beavers in Scotland, a priority in the country's beaver strategy 2022-2045. Over 73 per cent of consultation respondents were supportive of the scheme, though NatureScot said it would take seriously concerns raised by land managers and residents.

Beavers were first reintroduced to Scotland in 2009 after being hunted to extinction roughly 400 years earlier.

How it is being reported

• Beavers to return to River Ness area after 500 yearsNatureScot has approved the release of up to 15 beavers over three years at agreed sites in the River Ness catchment.BBC Scotland · 30 Oct, 13:18
• Beavers to return to waters around Loch Ness after 500 year absenceBEAVERS are set to be introduced to the waters around Loch Ness – exactly 500 years since they were last recorded at the loch.The National · 30 Oct, 13:08

In this story: Trees for Life · Beaver Trust · NatureScot · Loch Ness · River Ness · Scotland

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