Beavers with benefits

• Mar. 18 by Chloe Botting (1)

Four beaver families all the way from Norway have been captured and will now be in quarantine for six months due to the positive effect they have on our environment.

This project is part of the native mammal reintroduction and the project is being run by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS).

Each little beaver family consists of a male, a female and anything up to three yearlings.

Project manager for the Scottish Beaver Trial Simon Jones said:

“Beavers are native to Britain but were hunted to extinction over 400 years ago.” Beavers hold the potential to create new wetland habitats which, in turn, increases the appeal to other native species. We are excited to get the trial under way and really see what benefits beavers can bring to Scotland.”

Iain Valentine, head of animals, conservation & education for RZSS spoke more about capturing the beavers.

“The capture of the beaver families was a complicated process because we wanted to ensure that existing beaver families, which included yearlings and kits, were captured together. Luckily beavers are territorial so families can be tracked within the areas they inhabit.”

This means none of the beaver families have been separated and they are also being tracked and said to be in excellent health!