There have been no beavers in Scotland for 400 years but last night (20th November) four families, prepared especially in Norway, flew into Heathrow at the start of a process which will see them established at Knapdale in Argyll.

They will go into quarantine for six months before being released at a specially selected site in the Spring of 2009 in The Scottish Beaver Trial.

The beavers were captured in the Telemark area of Norway and each family is one adult male and female with between one and three kits – or yearlings.

Their release will be the UK’s first-ever formal reintroduction of a native mammal into the wild and is being carried out under the joint aegis of the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.

Their capture itself was complex. Iain Valentine, from the Royal Zoological Society explains that the team in Norway had to spend a long time identifying complete family groups to make sure that none were left behind. Then, because beavers are primarily active at night, the families had to be tracked from boats patrolling the river and caught in the dark.

When the families are released, Scottish Natural Heritage will monitor the situation to assess the beavers’ environmental impact; and the project partners with Forestry Commission Scotland will oversee the project.

It has taken a long time for permission to be granted for this trial. The landowning lobby was strongly against it and is a powerful voice. But this is a major victory for Argyll, adding significantly to its already rich biodiversity, the best in the UK.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Scotland and the wild beaver
• Moose return to the Highlands after several thousand years
• Scottish island wins battle against predatory rats
• Scottish wildcat survey to record wild numbers