23 Mar 2026
#11beaversmudsticks #beaverrewildingscotland #knapdaleforestbeavers
Scotland Released 11 Beavers Into a Dead River — What They Did With Mud and Sticks Was Unbelievable

It was the boldest rewilding experiment Britain had ever attempted, and it started with just 11 animals. On May 28, 2009, in the first licensed mammal reintroduction in British history, 3 families of Eurasian beavers captured in Norway and quarantined for months were released into freshwater lochs in Knapdale Forest, Argyll. No beaver had lived in Scotland for over 400 years. More than 10 million people encountered the story within days.

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Sources & References:

📄 Beaver Salmonid Working Group (2015). Final Report of the Beaver Salmonid Working Group. Prepared for The National Species Reintroduction Forum, Inverness.
https://www.gov.scot/publications/bea…

📄 Puttock, A., Graham, H.A., Ashe, J., Luscombe, D.J. & Brazier, R.E. (2020). Beaver dams attenuate flow: A multi-site study. Hydrological Processes.
https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.14017

📄 Jones, S. & Campbell-Palmer, R. (2014). The Scottish Beaver Trial: The Story of Britain’s First Licensed Release into the Wild. Final Report. Scottish Wildlife Trust & RZSS.

📄 Brazier, R.E. et al. (2020). River Otter Beaver Trial: Science and Evidence Report. University of Exeter.
https://www.exeter.ac.uk/creww/resear…

📄 Taylor, H.R. et al. (2024). The genetic legacy of the first successful reintroduction of a mammal to Britain. Evolutionary Applications, 17, e13629.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles…

📄 NatureScot (2015). Beavers in Scotland: A Report to the Scottish Government.
https://www.nature.scot/doc/beavers-s…

📄 NatureScot (2025). Beaver Management Report: 01 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.
https://www.nature.scot/doc/beaver-ma…

📄 NatureScot. Scottish Beaver Trial — Monitoring and Results.
https://www.nature.scot/professional-…

📄 Campbell-Palmer, R. et al. (2021). NatureScot Research Report 1274 — Survey of the Tayside Area Beaver Population 2020-2021.
https://www.nature.scot/doc/naturesco…

📄 Kemp, P.S. et al. (2012). Qualitative and quantitative effects of reintroduced beavers on stream fish. Fish and Fisheries, 13, 158-181.

📄 Gaywood, M.J. (2015). Beavers in Scotland. Scottish Natural Heritage, Inverness.

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