Scottish Beaver Trial announces beaver kit sightings

The Scottish Beaver Trial, the UK’s only licensed re-introduction of Eurasion beavers, has announced that it has spotted five newly-born beavers – known as kits.

The trial is taking place in Argyll and there are currently guided tours of the site, offering visitors the opportunity to learn about the re-introduction project and see the new beaver kits themselves.

Each tour is led by a trained expert, who is able to teach the visitors how to spot tell-tale beaver feeding signs whilst also talking about all of the other wildlife that lives within the site.

“The arrival of new kits means that the beavers have bred every year of the Scottish Beaver Trial," said Roisin Campbell-Palmer, the trial's field operations manager. "We are now attempting to establish exactly how many there are in total – but five have been observed so far.”

Speaking about the new born kits being spotted, Simon Jones, project manager for the trial, commented: "This is great news for the Scottish Beaver Trial and for local tourism, as more people will want to travel to Argyll to come on our guided walks for a chance to see the new arrivals.”

A partnership between Scottish Wildlife Trust, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and Forestry Commission Scotland, the trial is the first licensed mammal re-introduction to ever take place in the UK.

It is set to run until May 2014, at which point the findings will be passed onto the Scottish Government to will decide whether or not to continue with beaver re-introductions in Scotland.

Image courtesy of Royal Zoologial Society of Scotland