The beavers were apparently illegally released in the Tay catchment in Scotland a few years ago and numbers have been rising steadily since. In May 2019, after much public concern about the unregulated killing they were added to the list of European Protected Species which should have given them a high level of protection. There are options for licensing lethal control but the Scottish Government is clear when it states “More intensive management techniques, up to and including lethal control, are permitted under the Habitats Regulations for specified purposes and subject to there being no other satisfactory solution, and no adverse effect on the conservation status of the species.” Sadly there is some evidence that Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), the body tasked with managing licensing, is moving straight to the lethal control option without considering lesser measures. We have now been contacted by three landowners in the Tayside area of Scotland who have encountered problems with beavers. When they approached SNH for advice they were immediately offered licenses to kill. One farmer claims that a license was sent by email as a reply to his enquiry for information about sources of help. We are following up these allegations and will blog on what we find but it does seem strange there are many areas of the UK that would like to introduce beavers and are seeking to source them meanwhile in Scotland they are being killed in large numbers.

If you have any information on the beaver situation in Tayside you can contact us in complete confidence via this website.