Beaver trial: Young kits spotted in the wild. Pic: © Steve Gardner
The first beavers to have been born in the wild as part of a project in Argyll have been spotted by staff supervising the trial.
Last May the species was re-introduced into the wild in a trial programme being run by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. Beavers were a native species in the UK until they were hunted to extinction.
The newborn beavers, known as kits, are thought to be around eight weeks old, and their sighting is a significant landmark in the project, which is the first time a mammal has been re-introduced in the UK.
Christian Robstad, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Beaver Field Officer, said: "Seeing the Trial’s newborn beaver kits was really amazing - this is a huge achievement for the project and for conservation in the UK.
"It’s often difficult to tell if wild beavers are pregnant especially as they are elusive and largely nocturnal animals, but with our adult female beavers at two sites known to be in peak condition, there was a real possibility that kits could follow.
"Increasingly in the last few weeks, staff and volunteers have seen more evidence that there were young around and tracking activities were stepped up. After weeks of patient observation, we were finally rewarded with not just one kit being spotted but a second kit from a different family group as well.
"The first emerged as part of a ‘family outing’ with its parents and older sister close by to offer additional protection. It kept close to the edge of the loch and called out to its family for reassurance while it began to learn to forage for food."
Simon Jones, the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Scottish Beaver Trial Project Manager, added: "Receiving confirmation of the presence of at least two beaver kits this year in Knapdale is a fantastic step forward for the Scottish Beaver Trial as we can now begin to see how a small reintroduced population starts to naturally establish itself in the wild.
"Both these beaver families are real trial success stories, having settled into Knapdale very well. Both have built their own lodge and one family has had great success building a dam to access better food supplies. This has created a magnificent new area of wetland in which wildlife is now flourishing in.
"As beaver kits are very small, shy and look very similar to one another, there is a chance that even more kits have been born this year. We will be tracking our animals closely and hope to determine the exact number of kits produced as part of the Trial soon. This task will be made easier for us as the kits get older and more confident about emerging from the lodge and foraging for food on their own."
Beaver kits weigh about one pound when they are born and the newly-born kits are around the size of a guinea pig. They are born with a full coat of fur, their eyes open and are able to swim. When they reach about two years old they will leave the group in search of their own territory.
The Scottish Beaver Trial aims to provide information which could determine whether or not beavers are reintroduced into the wild across Scotland. Twenty-five other European countries have already reintroduced beavers to their wild lands.
