In the latest environmental issue to affect Scotland’s largest music festival, beaver activity has been found in the heart of the new festival site at Strathallan.

The discovery of a tree felled by gnawing comes after a pair of nesting ospreys caused a major headache for DF Concerts, the company behind the festival, last year.

Although beavers are not given the same protected status as ospreys and other animals, such as bats, DF Concerts would have to shoot or scare away the animals if they are still present in July, in order to prevent a flood risk at the Perthshire site.

Moving the beavers to another location is also an option and Scottish Natural Heritage have carried this operation out before.

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Wildlife expert Jim Crumley, who has written a book, Nature’s Architect, about the animals, said that moving them would be “straightforward”.

The beaver activity, thought to be 400m from the festival main stage, comes a week after Perth and Kinross Council issued a scathing review of the organisation and management of last year’s festival.

Beaver activity: The animals felled a tree close to the T in the Park site. Stag

The local authority has said that it will need “substantial” reassurance and evidence from DF Concerts that improvements have been made before officers can recommend that the festival gets the green light again.

The report states: “The 2015 T in the Park drew the largest number of post-event complaints and negative comments that Perth and Kinross Council had received about the event, during its 18-year history in the area.

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“These comments were expressed by a range of sources, festival attendees, local residents, elected members, council staff and other public bodies involved in the event.”

It said the main issues were transport problems, crowd safety issues and planning breaches.

The felled tree at the Machany burn was discovered on Saturday, and opponents of the festival believe it was gnawed through on Friday night.

The Scottish Government is due to make a decision about the levels of protection granted to beavers in Scotland in the coming months.

Only beavers included in Scotland’s official trial to bring beavers back to the wild in Knapdale, Argyll, are currently protected.

DF Concerts had to provide an extensive environmental impact plan and continuous assessment after two nesting ospreys took up residence near to the site last year.

The company, controversially, used cherry pickers, flags, balloons and loud music to try and scare the birds away.

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However, Perth and Kinross Council said in its report that the osprey management plan was successful and no harm was caused to the birds of prey.

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