Large populations of wild beavers living in the southern and western Highlands of Scotland are to be allowed to expand naturally after ministers granted them protected status.



For the first time since it was hunted to extinction about 300 years ago, the beaver will be officially designated as a native British species,the Scottish environment secretary announced on Thursday.

Rosesanna Cunningham said this was the first formal reintroduction of a once native mammal in the UK, a significant milestone in the slow process of rewilding parts of the British isles. Until now, official reintroductions have focused largely on birds of prey, though wild boar have colonised forests in southern England after escaping from farms and parks. The beavers were reintroduced to Scotland from Norway.

Conservationists said they were delighted. The Scottish Wildlife Trust said beavers created new wetlands, which supported otters, water voles and dragonflies, and helped to regulate flooding and reinvigorate woodland.

Jonathan Hughes, the SWT’s chief executive, said: “This is a major milestone for Scotland’s wildlife and the wider conservation movement. Beavers are one of the world’s best natural engineers. Their ability to create new wetlands and restore native woodland is remarkable and improves conditions for a wide range of species.”

Cunningham’s announcement was seen by zoologists and conservationists as inevitable: dozens of European beavers have been illegally and stealthily released in the Highlands or have escaped from private collections over the past decade. Previously captive beavers have also tried to colonise parts of southern England.

An expensive and long-term pilot reintroduction project in Knapdale, Argyll, where three beaver families were released in 2009 under a government licence, was usurped by the rapid spread of illegally released beavers in Tayside and Perthshire.

Up to 250 beavers are estimated to be living in rivers and lochs over several hundred square miles in the catchments of the rivers Tay and Earn, reaching as far north as Kinloch Rannoch and eastwards to Forfar, north of Dundee. Dozens have been shot by landowners and farmers, who are angry about consequent flooding and tree loss.

The species will be permitted to extend its range naturally. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

One study found that 21 had been shot around Tayside since 2010, including two which were pregnant and two feeding young. Conservationists have urged ministers to have a summer closed season for shooting amid suspicions that farmers were culling as many as possible before the animals were protected legally.



Roisin Campbell-Palmer, conservation projects manager at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), which has funded and helped run the Knapdale project, said there was a depressing tendency to kill beavers in the area. The RZSS had had to buy a freezer for beaver carcasses, she said.

Cunningham’s officials and the conservation agencies involved in beaver reintroduction had since brokered a deal over the terms of the reintroduction from the National Farmers Union of Scotland and Scottish Land and Estates, which represents Highland landowners.

While beavers would have an official designation under the EU habitats directive, land users would be able to actively manage them by cutting water channels through dams or protecting valuable trees.

Culling in specific circumstances would be licensed by Scottish Natural Heritage if no other solution could be found, the government said.

Cunningham said there immediate action would be taken if any more beavers were released illegally.

“Today’s announcement represents a major milestone in our work to protect and enhance Scotland’s world renowned biodiversity,” she said. “But I want to be absolutely clear that while the species will be permitted to extend its range naturally, further unauthorised releases of beavers will be a criminal act. Swift action will be taken in such circumstances to prevent a repeat of the experience on Tayside.”

The RZSS chief executive, Barbara Smith, said Cunningham would oversee a comprehensive management plan. Officials were preparing a formal survey of Scotland’s beaver population to be carried out next summer.

Smith said further controlled releases should be considered in other parts of Scotland, despite their unofficial dispersion in the Tay area. “We also feel strongly that further release sites will need to be considered in the short- to medium-term if the species is to fully re-establish itself as part of the Scottish landscape.”