Beaver family could move from Tayside to Loch Lomond reserve

A family of beavers could be moved from Tayside to Loch Lomond under plans drawn up by RSPB Scotland.

The charity has applied for permission to "translocate" the animals to its Loch Lomond nature reserve.

It comes after the Scottish government said it wanted to see more beavers moved from where they are deemed to be a pest to "a more suitable location".

It has been estimated that there are almost 1,000 beavers across 254 Scottish locations.

The first were reintroduced to Scotland - in Knapdale forest, Argyll and Bute - in 2009.

Under certain circumstances where beavers are causing significant damage, landowners can apply for a licence to kill them.

In the past farmers have spoken of their anger at the damage beavers cause to their land.

In 2021, 84 beavers were killed under licence and 30 were translocated to different projects, according to RSPB Scotland.

In an application to licensing agency Nature Scot, the charity said it wanted to provide a suitable site to translocate beavers which would otherwise be "lethally controlled".

It said a pair of beavers and their offspring would be live-trapped on a confidential site in Tayside, with the agreement of landowners.

Both the trapping and the transportation would be overseen by the Beaver Trust, which has been involved in similar operations over the past few years.

The animals would be checked by a vet, microchipped and released at Aber Burn, near its Loch Lomond nature reserve in West Dunbartonshire, over the next few months.

Nature Scot confirmed it had received the licence application for the proposed translocation and a decision would be made after an environmental assessment.