£1 million beavers released in Scotland

After 400 years and over £1 million in funding, beavers are back in Scotland as the first 11 beavers were released into the Knapdale, Scotland area near Loch Sween.

Conservationists will closely monitor the newly released beavers and track their reproduction, damn building efforts, and tree destruction.

Although some locals are pleased that the beavers are back, not everybody is glad to see them as the area’s salmon fishing organisations claim that the beavers will cause their salmon numbers to dwindle, estimating a cost to the Scottish economy of around £100m.

Dobson on the other hand claims that he does not think the beavers impact the local fish stock.

Additionally, Scottish ecologist of the Institute for Nature Research in Trondheim, Duncan Halley, said that in fifteen years he has not noticed an effect when beavers and salmons live together, either negatively or positively.

Beavers are natively not large travellers, despite myths that they spread like wildfire, because they are small and short and tend to stay in familiar areas.

To qualm objectors’ fears, each beaver that was released will be electronically monitored.

The beavers were trapped from Norway and released into the Knapdale Forest.

Beavers were last seen in 1526 and records show they were hunted to extinction due to the high price of their pelts and their scent glands, which were said to have medicinal value.