Great news has settled on our beaver neighbors to the Northeast today in the form of a beaver reprieve. No more killing without a permit in Scotland. If you’re anything like me you will be snorting through your coffee cup right now and saying “About frickin’ time!” and it really is, but we should still all still celebrate.
Scottish Government to give beavers protected status, outlawing their shooting without a licence
The Scottish Government has agreed to give beavers protected status, The Courier can reveal. The move will stamp out unregulated culling by making it illegal for them to be shot without a licence. It follows a plea from the Scottish Wildlife Trust after a female beaver was found shot in the chest at a Perthshire nature reserve.
The trust was among several conservation groups that signed an open letter to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in December, urging her to take action to safeguard the species and crackdown on uncontrolled shootings.
The Scottish Government will today confirm that the Eurasian or European species will be added to the list of European Protected Species of Animals, protected under Scottish law, with effect from May 1.
Come may first it won’t be open season on beavers, farmers must be SO disappointed! And it only took three and a half years. Imagine! Boy if I was a beaver I’d be lying REALLY low these next 65 days as everyone shoots as many as they can before the new rules.
Shooting will only be allowed under licence, managed by Scottish Natural Heritage.
Environment secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: “The Scottish Government believes in the highest standards of animal welfare – for both wild and domestic animals – and we felt it was high time that beavers enjoyed the same legal protection as other species like bats, dolphins, wildcats and otters.”
She said: “There are few species that have such significant and, largely positive, influence on the health and function of our ecosystems. The importance of beavers to Scotland’s biodiversity is huge.
As a woman who has waited breathlessly for this moment, allow me totell you now with all sincerity:
I don’t know about you, but I’m going to celebrate with this video.
