Beavers Return To Scotland

[Oresai]

source, bbc news online. :)


Beavers arrive for spring release


Four beaver families have arrived in the UK as part of a historic plan to reintroduce the mammals to Scotland for the first time in more than 400 years.

The beavers were flown into Heathrow Airport on Thursday night from Norway.

They will spend six months in quarantine before being released in Knapdale, Argyll, on a trial basis in spring 2009.

The release will be the first-ever formal reintroduction of a native mammal into the wild in the UK.

The Scottish Beaver Trial is being carried out by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. Beavers hold the potential to create new wetland habitats which in turn increases the appeal to other native species



The beaver families - each consisting of one adult male, one adult female and between one to three yearlings or kits - were captured in the Telemark region of Norway in September.

Iain Valentine, from the Royal Zoological Society, said the captures had been a "complicated process".

"The team in Norway spent long periods of time in specific sites to identify complete family groups, ensuring that none are left behind," he said.

"Another added complication was that beavers are primarily active at night so the beaver families were tracked from boats patrolling the river and caught in the dark.

"The team in Norway did a fantastic job and all the beavers are in excellent health."

When the families are released, the project partners and Forestry Commission Scotland will continue to oversee the project.

Scottish Natural Heritage will conduct scientific monitoring to assess the environmental impact of the beavers.

Simon Jones, from the Scottish Beaver Trial, 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 underway and really see what benefits beavers can bring to Scotland."

The scheme to reintroduce the mammals, however, has not been without controversy.

The Association of Salmon Fishery Boards has called the project "recklessly irresponsible" and asked ministers to block further releases until the impact on fish stocks can be assessed.

[Arrow Cross]

They will spend six months in quarantine before being released in Knapdale, Argyll, on a trial basis in spring 2009.
LOL, it's about six years for those poor animals...

[Treffie]

I think this is fascinating. I've heard of a Scottish landowner whose intention it is to re-introduce other animals such as wolves. Have you heard of this Oresai?

[Oresai]

Yes indeed, but there`s a `but`.....
He`s English and owns some of the biggest land in Sutherland. He moots a plan to introduce Scotland`s `lost` wildlife...wolves, bears, lynx etc. Which sounds great, except he states that `for public safety` the entire tract of land (quite a sizeable area of what is known as Scotland`s last wildnerness) will have to be fenced off and public access denied without express permission from himself.
Needless to say, among many Scots this is viewed as simply a means to obtain landholder privacy and deny the Right to Roam act to native Scots. Not a popular proposal. I personally hope it doesn`t go through, though I do fully support the return of wild species to Scotland`s countryside. I was born in Sutherland, and have fought (once, almost literally) the English landowner-robbers for many years about the rights of native born Scots to traverse their own landscape.

[Skandi]

There's a male loose in Devon at the moment, they're trying to catch him at the moment.

[Oresai]

Is that the poor bugger that keeps gnawing down the trees where there`s no water to dam? :D

[Skandi]

yeah, though he's made it to the Tamar now, but they stole his two women :(

[Oisín]

Yes indeed, but there`s a `but`.....
He`s English and owns some of the biggest land in Sutherland. He moots a plan to introduce Scotland`s `lost` wildlife...wolves, bears, lynx etc. Which sounds great, except he states that `for public safety` the entire tract of land (quite a sizeable area of what is known as Scotland`s last wildnerness) will have to be fenced off and public access denied without express permission from himself.
Needless to say, among many Scots this is viewed as simply a means to obtain landholder privacy and deny the Right to Roam act to native Scots. Not a popular proposal. I personally hope it doesn`t go through, though I do fully support the return of wild species to Scotland`s countryside. I was born in Sutherland, and have fought (once, almost literally) the English landowner-robbers for many years about the rights of native born Scots to traverse their own landscape.
I was watching a documentary on this bloke and his project earlier on, he seems sincere enough. But what astounded me was that when they were interviewing him and 4 or 5 of his neighbours - who were all obviously filthy rich, between them they own hundreds of thousands of acres of the Scottish Highlands - not one of them was a Scot. They were all English. We have the same situation in Ireland where English Lords continue to own many of our castles and lands that were stolen from our ancestors. I was wondering if there was a way that they could be forced by some law to give us back what is ours?

[SwordoftheVistula]

Interesting, might be a good idea, but beavers can become a pest species in some cases, their dams can cause flooding.

I think they are generally helpful for fish, salmon can breed in their ponds.

One problem may be that all the natural predators of beavers, such as wolves, have also been eradicated, so there is potential for the beaver population to get out of control.

The guy with the wolves and lynxes, keeping them on a large tract of land but contained by a fence, seems to have the right idea.

[Oresai]

Great idea, but not at the expense of denying native Scots access to the land imo. Thorny issue in Scotland, land access. ;)

[SwordoftheVistula]

If they pay full value for the land, why shouldn't they decide who gets to go on it? Cougars, wolves, scots, or whatever other wild animals of their choosing?

[Oresai]

I didn`t say they couldn`t choose which creatures roam on it. Unfortunately, the man in question wants to prohibit the Scottish people from accessing the land of their birth likewise.
And this issue is tied up with, and hotly disputed under, the Rights of Access Law of Scotland.
How would you feel, for example, if foreigners came to your land, mooted reintroducting animals no longer indigenous, thus gathering popular following among the eco brigade, but then proclaimed that `for your own safety` and due to these animals, you could no longer access that land?

[SwordoftheVistula]

you could no longer access that land?

That's kinda the point of ownership isn't it? Deciding who has access to it? I don't own any land yet, but nobody drives my car or accesses my computer without my permission. If I ever own land, any unauthorized person on it is going to get ordered off if not shot (assuming this is correlates with state laws, and if it doesn't I am unlikely to buy land in such a jurisdiction)

[Oresai]

I think there is a thread in the Scotland section, about land ownership rights and Rights of Access for Scots. It isn`t so simple as `who owns the land has carte blanche` you see. :)
Scots have long held to the tradition, laws and belief that every native Scot has the Right to Roam. And although various governmental bodies try to remove that tenuous right, last time I looked it was still valid.
Now, this man owns such a large swatch of Sutherland (incidentally, my own birthplace so I know the expanse which would be out of bounds and am not unbiased, I freely admit) that life could become exceedingly difficult for the crofters and farmers working there.
I appreciate mankind`s natural territorial leaning as much as the next person, but under Scots law it is more complex than that. ;)

Edited to add. we are not talking about any old person and his wife walking onto the land and setting up house and home! But simply working on, and traversing the landscape.

[Skandi]

The law is slightly different in Scotland, you can wander pretty much anywhere, personaly I would introduce the animals and then do one of two things;

Block of the area to all people, it would be wonderfull for all the wildlife around

or

Fence and gate it but allow anybody in who wishes, they would simply have to accept responsibilty for their own actions. after all people manage with wolves where they still exist, same with bears and lynx. I'm sure people would learn, and learn fast!

[Oresai]

Good point,and one I am in favour of...allowing anyone access to the land at their own risk. After all, people and wild creatures live cheek by jowl in other countries without the need to enforce and restrict access.

It surely is up to every person who visits the wild places to use common sense. We see it in Scotland every year with mountain climbers and hill walkers, many of whom come totally unprepared and ascend mountains despite severe weather warnings, only to have to be rescued again and again. The volunteers who do this deserves medals imo. for their patience if nothing else. ;)
We in Scotland call it `silly season`.
If folks wish to walk the wild and encounter bears, wolves and lynx, they must be prepared to act accordingly and take common sense precautions, such as most Scots do during the deer rutting season..people are actually killed by hormone ridden stags...
Common sense. Not restriction.

[SwordoftheVistula]

That might work, to both provide an additional food source for these wolves, bears and lynxes, and also to exact a bit of darwinistic pressure on the human population

[Oresai]

Well, if it does indeed work that way, we must be sure to promote Sutherland and it`s wilds as a tourist destination for muslims.......
I could be sensing a very very slight anti-Scots sentiment here from you, you know...;)
(it may even have been the lumping in of Scots with `other wild animals` ) but it does tend to slide off us like water off a ducks back, as the saying goes.
Easy enough to poke fun from across a big pond, yes?;)

[Freomæg]

I don't own any land yet, but nobody drives my car or accesses my computer without my permission.
The difference is that land is a finite resource - particularly such historic, beautiful and important land as the Scottish Highlands - whereas we can make as many computers and cars as we want. Every inch of Britain is owned by somebody and whilst this is the natural result of our civilisation, it's quite a frightening prospect to think that the very few might be able to prevent the many from accessing their own spiritual homelands. It's made worse by the fact that these lands have been bought up by Englishmen, though it'd hardly be preferable if they were Highlanders. I have a problem with land monopolies because no-one has the right to own such vast swathes of land, with all the history and soul encaptured therein. It's incredibly greedy. You have to wonder about the motives for someone doing this. If it is to protect the land, great - but make sure the natives of that land are given full access and a sense of shared ownership (the actual land-owner's ownership being civil only).

That being said, I also support the re-introduction of ALL Britain's native species. I don't know exactly how this can be reconciled with the right to access. From what I know of the situation up there, the man wanting to re-introduce animals is being forced to fence them in due to the concerns of neighbouring farmers and land-owners. Perhaps it is these people who need to adopt a more reasonable approach. If you want to live in the wilds of Scotland, you should accept the indigenous wildlife that comes with it - NOT the blunted, safe version we have artificially created by driving native species to extinction.

[Oresai]

I can see why farmers have a natural distrust of predatory species. Even a look at such creatures in other countries doesn`t particularly help since farmers are the same the world over...they want to protect their livelihood at all costs. But I do believe in Norway, the wolf is both controlled by culling (not sure, so if wrong please can any knowledgable Norwegian correct me :)) and controlled breeding and so far as I know the bulk of farmers appear to accept their presence fine.
I honestly think the trouble with reintroducing wild and predatory species is that livestock keepers balk at the extra expense necessarily needed to put protective practices in place for said livestock. So in the end, it may turn out to be an economic choice.

[Allenson]

Well, I wish the new beavers luck and success in Scotland. :thumb001:

We have loads of beaver around these parts. "Beaver meadows" were much prized land by the early settlers as they were some of the only large-scale areas that were free of forest and thus, had grasses on which the settlers' animals could graze.

Beaver meadows are the areas that were once flooded by the backwater caused by the dams that beavers build. The trees are flooded, drown, die....the beavers move on, the dam falls apart, the water recedes and eventually, herbacious plants, many grasses included, populate the once flooded land.

Amazing wildlife habitat too!

Here is a beaver meadow very near to my house:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3089/2512313396_4a61b2dc26.jpg

[Dalriada]

Sorry, I couldn't resist adding this snippet from Only An Excuse about this very subject :D

rybmAkiQ9ys

[Albion]

the English landowner-robbers for many years about the rights of native born Scots to traverse their own landscape.

Here we go...


They were all English. We have the same situation in Ireland where English Lords continue to own many of our castles and lands that were stolen from our ancestors. I was wondering if there was a way that they could be forced by some law to give us back what is ours?


Challenge: Just you go and research the genealogy of all these so-called English and you'll probably find most are Scots, Flemish or "Old English" (aka Normans). For god sake, British isn't sodding synonymous with English!!!

Scots and Irish own large parts of England but you don't hear us bawling about it, Scots own large houses and places in the countryside as retreats to lavish all the money they "made" in the city.
The whole world doesn't just revolve around the two of you, Scots and Irish have it good in England too!



Regarding the beavers, in my opinion it'd be better if someone just let them out once and for all. Its a shame they can't be reintroduced to England but we lack enough woodlands at the moment and farmers are quite powerful in policy here.
I'd like to see most of Britain's recently extinct species reintroduced, Scotland is the ideal place followed by Wales and then the North Pennines.