A second family of beavers was been released on a Perthshire farm, reinforcing the five beavers already relocated there in November last year.

The five beavers were moved to the Argaty Red Kite centre near Doune, in a licensed 'translocation' carried out by the Beaver Trust charity. The beavers were trapped and taken under licence from areas where they were causing serious agricultural damage for farmers.

Argaty is only the second translocation site authorised in Scotland; the first being the original beaver reintroduction trial site at Knapdale in Argyll.

The owner of Argaty Red Kites, Tom Bowser, said: “We are thrilled to be Scotland’s first private site to legally release beavers into the wild. It will be so exciting to see how they enhance biodiversity on our farm.”

Beaver dams create wetlands that benefit many other species, including amphibians, invertebrates and fish. The dams also improve water quality, moderate water flows and reduce downstream flooding. In addition, selective felling of trees by beavers can increase the biodiversity within riparian woodland. One anticipated benefit at Argaty is the reduced shading of pond edges, which will improve habitat for breeding damselflies and dragonflies.

NatureScot’s head of wildlife management, Donald Fraser, added: “Beavers can play an important role in helping to restore biodiversity and respond to the climate emergency in Scotland. Projects like this one at Argaty also allow beavers to be trapped and removed from highly productive agricultural land where they are causing damage to farmland and released in an area where nature will benefit and there is less risk to agriculture.”

Spokesperson for Beaver Trust, Roisin Campbell-Palmer, said: “The translocation of this beaver family can be considered a success, with both parents and all seen offspring trapped over a short time frame with full engagement of the landowner, lots of positive familial behaviours observed with all individuals eating well and completing health screening checks. Being able to release these beavers as a well-bonded family unit feels like we are giving them the best chance for relocation success and away from prime-agricultural land where they were causing a significant issue. We look forward to being able to expand such work in the future.”

Argaty is a working farm and visitor attraction that is home to an award-winning red kite project. It is a founding member of the Northwoods Rewilding Network, operated by rewilding charity SCOTLAND: The Big Picture.

Mr Fraser added: “In assessing this licence application, we listened to concerns expressed in the Argaty area from local farmers, who are concerned that the translocated beavers will move quickly into burns on their land and potentially flood land and cause damage to heritage and other trees. We’d like to assure these farmers and other land and fisheries managers that our mitigation scheme is available to help them with any issues which arise and that our assessment is that, on balance, the expected benefits will outweigh any negative impacts.”

A team of NatureScot staff and contractors, including the Beaver Trust, support farmers and other land managers with mitigation measures when needed, such as tree protection, exclusion fencing and installing flow devices in beaver dams. In 2020, 68 active mitigation projects were progressed.