Beavers have been introduced to 24 other European countries since 1920 and have spread widely; the Scottish Wildlife Trust expects the Knapdale trial to be successful in terms of the criteria set for it. If beavers spread from the site, then as almost all streams in Scotland are spawning areas for Salmon and Trout and as numbers of beavers increase (which they can do at circa 16% per annum), the impacts (and dam numbers) will grow until the beaver population stabilises after 50 to 100 years at several tens of thousands, based on the experience of other countries.
EXPERIENCES WITH BEAVERS IN BAVARIA
Notes from a talk given by Gerhard Schwab at the Association of Rivers Trusts (ART) meeting at the Eden Centre, St. Austell, Cornwall, 9th November 2007.
1. Before the introduction to Bavaria it was thought Beavers would be limited to small amount of good habitat. Actually it has been found Beavers will live anywhere with water and trees, including farm drainage ditches, as they create their own habitat. They have increased from 120 to 10,000 from 1966 to 2006 in Bavaria.
2. Beavers eat many farm crops, other than potatoes and asparagus. Sugar Beet is a favourite.
3. Beavers will live in culverts and drainage pipes, etc. which have to be fenced off with metal mesh to keep them out.
4. Beavers will burrow into embankments, etc. These have to be reinforced with metal mesh to stop this where it is dangerous.
5. Beavers are not afraid of human activity and will do what they want to make the landscape what they want; they are even found in urban environments now.
6. The best option to reduce problems in farmland has been found to have 20m buffer strips along watercourses. Beaver seldom go further than this, so any alterations they make don’t impinge on the farmland beyond 20m.
FROM THE WEBSITE OF THE LATVIA INSTITUTE
http://www.li.lv/
Currently there are approximately 80,000 beavers in Latvia – that is, about six beaver pairs are active per 10 km2. A patient tourist has the chance to catch sight of a beaver. It is not definitely known why the number of beavers has increased so dramatically, but such population density is excessive – beavers dam up drainage ditches as well as small rivers and streams, and if the terrain is flat, large territories are flooded. We would gladly export some beavers if only buyers could be found.
Whilst this paper has been prepared by The Tweed Foundation on the basis of information that it believes is accurate, any party seeking to implement or otherwise act on any part or parts of this paper is recommended to obtain specialist advice. The Tweed Foundation does not accept responsibility under any circumstances for the actions or omissions of other parties occasioned by their reading of this paper.