The Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) is calling on ministers to carry out further research on Tayside’s illegal beavers, fearing a hasty decision to let them roam could cause major environmental damage.
Environment Minister Stewart Stevenson is expected to make a judgement soon on the future of the rogue beavers, which are building lodges in waterways between Aberfeldy, Forfar, Dundee and Perth.
One option put forward in an advisory paper by Scottish Natural Heritage, is to let the rodents roam free, with SNH saying the cost of trapping them could prove too costly.
However, the SGA, which represents 5300 members, is calling for Holyrood to press the pause button on this, believing legitimisation- without due research- could lead to major flooding and forestry problems.
It is estimated around 100 beavers, an illegal species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, have taken residence in the area since being allegedly released from private collections.
The SGA has evidence that these animals are now causing serious flood problems on agricultural land, rendering parts of fields unproductive.
Photographic evidence also highlights significant damage to forestry on river-banks, with potential threats to public homes due to the destruction of natural flood defences.
The organisation is asking ministers to look closer at the situation and has offered the expertise of its membership to help conduct detailed field research.
“There has to be a pause for thought on this because people have no real idea as to the long term damage that could be caused to agricultural land and to trees which are needed to bind riverbanks in many areas,” said SGA Spokesman, Bert Burnett.
“The freak rain storms we have been having recently have shown some areas to be more prone to flooding than others and, if there are beavers there, it is likely this will occur on a more regular basis.
“The genuine fear is that, if we leave things the way they are, then we could be creating a problem which may have to be solved, at great public cost, at a later date.
“We have armies of members who are assessing rivers every day and could relay the necessary information. We also have many people well versed in trapping techniques and we would be more than happy to offer assistance.”
Some farmers, where beavers have taken up residence, are already experiencing problems with field flooding and blocked drains.
One individual in Angus is now having to fell beaver lodges weekly on an adjacent burn to prevent large-scale flooding, with the animals regularly raising the water level by over a foot.
“If I wasn’t having flood problems, I would be happy for the beavers to stay but I don’t honestly see how we can carry on with it,” he said.
“They have caused significant damage to trees and, if these were young trees planted in the last twenty years, they would more or less have cleared them all by now.
“They are very efficient and, if they damn up a small burn, the water level doesn’t need to rise very far before it covers the ends of drains, which then don’t work, causing flooding to fields.
“Our field has been flooded and, if it was harvest time, you would not get a combine harvester or heavy machinery near it. You would simply lose that productive part of the field.
“If it was Spring or harvest time, I doubt clearing the damns once a week would be enough. It is going to become a constant management issue now unless something is done.”
Unlike the trial reintroduction of imported beavers in Knapdale, Argyll, the Tayside population has grown since individual animals were released in contravention of law.
Alternative options put forward by SNH to deal with the issue is to capture them by trapping or to wait to see the result of the Knapdale trial.
In European countries like Norway, beavers are treated as vermin due to the damage to mature birch woodlands caused by flooding, as a result of river damning.
The SGA believe there is now enough evidence in Tayside and Angus for the situation to be assessed more thoroughly.
“Before these animals are allowed to breed freely, we need to know the numbers and the facts,” added SGA Spokesman, Bert Burnett.
“There is a desire to have 25 per cent more forestry in Scotland, with one option being to plant more trees beside water courses to improve habitat.
“It seems counter-productive, then, to spend millions doing this and then allow animals that are going to undo it, to roam freely. We don’t feel that enough effort has been made to trap the animals to date and we would be happy to help,” he said.
There have been similar examples in Scotland of animals being released into the wild, causing management headaches.
American Mink became established after escaping, or being released from, fur farms; a development similar to what has happened in Tayside and Angus with beaver.
Mink are now the subject of a heavily funded cross-agency eradication programme because of the devastating impact they have had on ground-nesting birds and fish.
http://www.scottishgamekeepers.co.uk/content/gamekeepers-urge-govt-explore-tayside-beaver-problem
Showing posts with label Beavers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beavers. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Friday, October 14, 2011
New reports on the effect of Scotland’s beavers on woodland and fish
Beaver science - Not rocket scienceOctober 2011. Two reports on the Scottish Beaver Trial in Argyll, published by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), show that beavers are changing some of the woodland structure but so far having little effect on fish in streams.
Beavers were reintroduced to Knapdale forest near Lochgilphead in May 2009 as part of a five year scientific trial run by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, hosted by Forestry Commission Scotland. After an absence of more than 400 years, the effects of beavers on the environment are being closely monitored by SNH in partnership with a number of other independent organisations. The reports will help inform future decisions on whether the European beaver should be permanently reintroduced to Scotland.
Most trees affected were on the banks near the beaver lodges!
The woodland monitoring has been carried out by The James Hutton Institute, who surveyed land around the edges of the lochs where the beavers live. Nearly a year and a half after their release, about 10% of trees in the survey area were showing signs of beaver activity. Most of these had been felled, with many trees also showing signs of gnawing. As well as feeding on bark, twigs, shoots and leaves, beavers use felled trees and branches for building their lodges and dams and store them underwater for food in the winter. Beaver activity is concentrated in particular areas - the majority of trees affected (72%) were within 10 metres of lochs and streams, with the most intensive felling within 350 metres of beaver lodges.
The average size of trees gnawed or felled was 5cm across, but beavers often felled much bigger trees. Most were less than 20cm in diameter but a few were up to 30cm.
Prefer willow - avoid alder
Results to date show that beavers are showing a strong preference for willow and rowan, and that they avoid alder. One striking observation was that beavers will travel a distance from the water's edge to find willow. Other trees at Knapdale are used in proportion to their availability. Birch is one most often used by beavers but this is because it is the most commonly found tree in the survey area.
Most trees survive
However, most trees will not die when they're felled by the beavers. Of the trees affected, new growth had already been found on 44% of stumps and partially-felled trees. Trees which have been felled later on in the summer may not start to regrow until the following spring.
As well as their effect on trees around the lochs, an area of woodland has been flooded by a beaver dam at Dubh Loch. While the willow and alder may survive, other species may die but remain standing as dead wood for some time. Ultimately this particular area may change to very wet willow woodland or even wetland.
Little effect on fisheries
The second report, produced by the Argyll Fisheries Trust, showed that so far beavers are having little observable effect on freshwater fish in streams in the trial area. This is because beavers aren't using streams as much as might have been expected - most beaver activity is taking place on the lochs. However this may change as the beaver numbers increase. The streams will continue to be monitored and the fish and fish habitat in some of the lochs will also be studied.
The fish species found in the survey include brown trout, European eel, stickleback and flounder. Minnow were also found. They are probably not native to this region of Scotland but are likely to have been brought in by anglers, using them as bait.
Martin Gaywood, who leads the independent scientific monitoring of the trial for SNH said: "These annual reports are vital to the beaver trial, because they'll show us how beavers influence the environment in and around these lochs. Beavers have complex effects on other wildlife, and measuring these changes is essential. This trial will give the Scottish Government the information it needs to decide whether beavers should be reintroduced on a wide-scale in Scotland."
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/beaver-trial011.html
Beavers were reintroduced to Knapdale forest near Lochgilphead in May 2009 as part of a five year scientific trial run by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, hosted by Forestry Commission Scotland. After an absence of more than 400 years, the effects of beavers on the environment are being closely monitored by SNH in partnership with a number of other independent organisations. The reports will help inform future decisions on whether the European beaver should be permanently reintroduced to Scotland.
Most trees affected were on the banks near the beaver lodges!
The woodland monitoring has been carried out by The James Hutton Institute, who surveyed land around the edges of the lochs where the beavers live. Nearly a year and a half after their release, about 10% of trees in the survey area were showing signs of beaver activity. Most of these had been felled, with many trees also showing signs of gnawing. As well as feeding on bark, twigs, shoots and leaves, beavers use felled trees and branches for building their lodges and dams and store them underwater for food in the winter. Beaver activity is concentrated in particular areas - the majority of trees affected (72%) were within 10 metres of lochs and streams, with the most intensive felling within 350 metres of beaver lodges.
The average size of trees gnawed or felled was 5cm across, but beavers often felled much bigger trees. Most were less than 20cm in diameter but a few were up to 30cm.
Prefer willow - avoid alder
Results to date show that beavers are showing a strong preference for willow and rowan, and that they avoid alder. One striking observation was that beavers will travel a distance from the water's edge to find willow. Other trees at Knapdale are used in proportion to their availability. Birch is one most often used by beavers but this is because it is the most commonly found tree in the survey area.
Most trees survive
However, most trees will not die when they're felled by the beavers. Of the trees affected, new growth had already been found on 44% of stumps and partially-felled trees. Trees which have been felled later on in the summer may not start to regrow until the following spring.
As well as their effect on trees around the lochs, an area of woodland has been flooded by a beaver dam at Dubh Loch. While the willow and alder may survive, other species may die but remain standing as dead wood for some time. Ultimately this particular area may change to very wet willow woodland or even wetland.
Little effect on fisheries
The second report, produced by the Argyll Fisheries Trust, showed that so far beavers are having little observable effect on freshwater fish in streams in the trial area. This is because beavers aren't using streams as much as might have been expected - most beaver activity is taking place on the lochs. However this may change as the beaver numbers increase. The streams will continue to be monitored and the fish and fish habitat in some of the lochs will also be studied.
The fish species found in the survey include brown trout, European eel, stickleback and flounder. Minnow were also found. They are probably not native to this region of Scotland but are likely to have been brought in by anglers, using them as bait.
Martin Gaywood, who leads the independent scientific monitoring of the trial for SNH said: "These annual reports are vital to the beaver trial, because they'll show us how beavers influence the environment in and around these lochs. Beavers have complex effects on other wildlife, and measuring these changes is essential. This trial will give the Scottish Government the information it needs to decide whether beavers should be reintroduced on a wide-scale in Scotland."
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/beaver-trial011.html
Friday, June 10, 2011
Wild Beavers Terrorize Philadelphia
 |
Wikimedia Three people were bitten by a rabid beaver last week in Philadelphia before the animal was killed -- and game wardens remain stumped about the "truly bizarre" attacks. |
PHILADELPHIA – Pennsylvania game wardens remained stumped Sunday about a spate of "truly bizarre" rabid beaver attacks in and around Philadelphia.
Three people were bitten by a beaver last week in Pennypack Park in the city's northeastern section before the animal was killed and officials determined it had rabies, according to MyFoxPhilly.
A married couple was fishing on Wednesday when the large beaver bit the woman's leg, then turned on her husband and bit him in both arms and on his chest, the Pennsylvania Game Commission said.
On Thursday, a child was bitten in the same park. A short time later, a park ranger located the beaver nearby. That animal was killed and tested positive for rabies at a Health Department lab. Game wardens are looking through the park for other beavers that could be infected.
Park officials were baffled by the location of the attacks and the fact that the mammal was a beaver -- not a raccoon or skunk.
"It's not that beavers are not susceptible, as all mammals are susceptible, to rabies," said Game Commission spokesman Jerry Feaser. "But a beaver in Philadelphia, that was just truly bizarre."
Another rabid beaver attacked an angler in late April on White Clay Creek in the Chester County suburbs of Philadelphia. Feaser said the attacks are the only such cases he recalls during 12 years with the commission.
"Our furbearer biologist, when he heard about this, he was just literally blown away," Feaser said.
The state Agriculture Department, which investigates rabies cases, fielded no reports of rabid beavers in 2009 or 2010.
Pennsylvania normally has between 350 and 500 confirmed rabies cases annually. Last year slightly more than half the cases were raccoons, followed in frequency by skunks, cats, bats and foxes. The state's most recent rabies fatality for humans occurred in 1984, when a 12-year-old Lycoming County boy died.
As a precaution, Game Commission officials continue to encourage residents to avoid the Pennypack Creek waterfront area between Bustleton Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard in northeast Philadelphia.
Read more on Philadelphia's beaver battle at MyFoxPhilly.com.
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/06/06/wild-beavers-terrorize-philadelphia/
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Cull of trapped Tayside beavers avoided
7 April 2011
An agreement to avoid trapped beavers being killed was struck after experts estimated there were only about 20 animals running loose in Scotland.
Edinburgh Zoo had suggested it may need to humanely destroy beavers captured by Scottish Natural Heritage at a cost of £100 if new homes could not be found.
The details have been revealed in a letter to Scottish Natural Heritage, after a trapping trial in Tayside.
SNH said at first it was thought there were more than 100 beavers in the wild.
In a letter, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, which runs Edinburgh Zoo, said it may have to put down the escaped animals caught on the River Tay.
Zoo officials said in the letter they were prepared to provide temporary accommodation for beavers and would seek new homes for them for three weeks, before culling them if none could be found.
The letter to SNH, dated 25 October 2010, said the zoo would charge "£100 plus VAT for the cost of drugs for the destruction of each animal, and subsequent disposal of the cadaver".
However SNH said it had since told Edinburgh Zoo that it had "hard evidence" there were far fewer beavers in the wild in Scotland than had been speculated and only one had been caught.
An SNH spokesman said: "The suggestion that beavers may have to be put down was made early on, after speculation that there could be more than a 100 beavers to be caught.
"We fully understood and accepted that the zoo had to have a fall-back position if homes could not be found for all the beavers.
"However, the hard evidence of beaver activity suggested there were at most about 20 beavers in the wild, so we were able to agree subsequently that euthanasia would not be necessary. We were confident that new homes could be found."
SNH said that now the trapping trial had ended in Tayside, it was assessing the results to decide what to do in the future.
One captured
A Royal Zoological Society of Scotland spokeswoman said: "At the time of writing the letter there was potentially an unknown number of beavers that the RZSS were going to be asked to hold by Scottish Natural Heritage.
"We were willing to accommodate as many as resources would allow, but we would never have been able to accommodate a large number.
"Both the RZSS and SNH jointly wanted to find another solution, therefore verbally days later all involved decided we could offer a home at Edinburgh Zoo.
"The captured Tayside beaver in question was housed at Edinburgh Zoo from early December and provided with the best husbandry and veterinary care."
It comes after one wild beaver, the only one captured by SNH so far, died at Edinburgh Zoo within months of its arrival.
Edinburgh zoo stressed that the beaver was not destroyed and that a post-mortem examination was under way.
SNH believes up to 20 beavers have escaped private collections in Angus and Perthshire.
The beavers are being recaptured because it is illegal to allow their escape or release into the wild and because their welfare may be at risk, SNH said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-13002471
An agreement to avoid trapped beavers being killed was struck after experts estimated there were only about 20 animals running loose in Scotland.
Edinburgh Zoo had suggested it may need to humanely destroy beavers captured by Scottish Natural Heritage at a cost of £100 if new homes could not be found.
The details have been revealed in a letter to Scottish Natural Heritage, after a trapping trial in Tayside.
SNH said at first it was thought there were more than 100 beavers in the wild.
In a letter, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, which runs Edinburgh Zoo, said it may have to put down the escaped animals caught on the River Tay.
Zoo officials said in the letter they were prepared to provide temporary accommodation for beavers and would seek new homes for them for three weeks, before culling them if none could be found.
The letter to SNH, dated 25 October 2010, said the zoo would charge "£100 plus VAT for the cost of drugs for the destruction of each animal, and subsequent disposal of the cadaver".
However SNH said it had since told Edinburgh Zoo that it had "hard evidence" there were far fewer beavers in the wild in Scotland than had been speculated and only one had been caught.
An SNH spokesman said: "The suggestion that beavers may have to be put down was made early on, after speculation that there could be more than a 100 beavers to be caught.
"We fully understood and accepted that the zoo had to have a fall-back position if homes could not be found for all the beavers.
"However, the hard evidence of beaver activity suggested there were at most about 20 beavers in the wild, so we were able to agree subsequently that euthanasia would not be necessary. We were confident that new homes could be found."
SNH said that now the trapping trial had ended in Tayside, it was assessing the results to decide what to do in the future.
One captured
A Royal Zoological Society of Scotland spokeswoman said: "At the time of writing the letter there was potentially an unknown number of beavers that the RZSS were going to be asked to hold by Scottish Natural Heritage.
"We were willing to accommodate as many as resources would allow, but we would never have been able to accommodate a large number.
"Both the RZSS and SNH jointly wanted to find another solution, therefore verbally days later all involved decided we could offer a home at Edinburgh Zoo.
"The captured Tayside beaver in question was housed at Edinburgh Zoo from early December and provided with the best husbandry and veterinary care."
It comes after one wild beaver, the only one captured by SNH so far, died at Edinburgh Zoo within months of its arrival.
Edinburgh zoo stressed that the beaver was not destroyed and that a post-mortem examination was under way.
SNH believes up to 20 beavers have escaped private collections in Angus and Perthshire.
The beavers are being recaptured because it is illegal to allow their escape or release into the wild and because their welfare may be at risk, SNH said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-13002471
Friday, August 13, 2010
First beaver born in the wild for 400 years
From the Guardian online.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/13/beaver-born-wild-scotland-uk
It has taken a while to arrive, but late last month the first beaver to be born in the wild in Britain in roughly 400 years emerged from its lodge.
The young animal, known as a kit, is one of at least two that have been born to wild beavers released in May last year around several lochs deep in an ancient, uninhabited forest on the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland.
The small, shy animals are now about eight weeks old and their arrival is a pr
ofound relief to the Scottish conservationists who have pioneered the reintroduction of beavers into the UK, centuries after they were hunted for their pelts and oil into extinction.
The first kit was spotted by Christian Robstad, a field officer with the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. "It emerged as part of a 'family outing' with its parents and older sister close by to offer additional protection," he said. "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."
The experiment at Knapdale, south-west of Lochgilphead, is being closely watched by naturalists in southern England and Wales, where beaver reintroduction projects are being pursued.
The Scottish scheme has had a troubled history. Six of the wild beavers flown in from Norway in 2008 died in quarantine or could not be released. After back-up beavers were moved from a wildlife reserve in the Highlands, 11 were eventually freed in Knapdale. Since then one family of three has gone missing, with fears that the female was deliberately shot. A fourth new pair was released in May to bolster numbers.
Simon Jones, the Scottish Wildlife Trust's project manager, said: "Receiving confirmation of the presence of at least two beaver kits this year in Knapdale is a fantastic step forward, as we can now begin to see how a small reintroduced population starts to naturally establish itself in the wild.
"Both families 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."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/13/beaver-born-wild-scotland-uk
It has taken a while to arrive, but late last month the first beaver to be born in the wild in Britain in roughly 400 years emerged from its lodge.
The young animal, known as a kit, is one of at least two that have been born to wild beavers released in May last year around several lochs deep in an ancient, uninhabited forest on the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland.
The small, shy animals are now about eight weeks old and their arrival is a pr
ofound relief to the Scottish conservationists who have pioneered the reintroduction of beavers into the UK, centuries after they were hunted for their pelts and oil into extinction.The first kit was spotted by Christian Robstad, a field officer with the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. "It emerged as part of a 'family outing' with its parents and older sister close by to offer additional protection," he said. "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."
The experiment at Knapdale, south-west of Lochgilphead, is being closely watched by naturalists in southern England and Wales, where beaver reintroduction projects are being pursued.
The Scottish scheme has had a troubled history. Six of the wild beavers flown in from Norway in 2008 died in quarantine or could not be released. After back-up beavers were moved from a wildlife reserve in the Highlands, 11 were eventually freed in Knapdale. Since then one family of three has gone missing, with fears that the female was deliberately shot. A fourth new pair was released in May to bolster numbers.
Simon Jones, the Scottish Wildlife Trust's project manager, said: "Receiving confirmation of the presence of at least two beaver kits this year in Knapdale is a fantastic step forward, as we can now begin to see how a small reintroduced population starts to naturally establish itself in the wild.
"Both families 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."
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Beaver hospitalises fisherman in frenzied riverside attack
6th August, 2010A hefty 3-stone beaver has hospitalised a fisherman following a frenzied attack.
The incensed animal swam across the river and launched itself at 55-year-old Russ McTindal.
The American said he tried to fight off the beaver by hitting it with his rod as the animal gnawed at his arm.
'It was attacking me,' McTindal told Channel 2 Action News. 'He was actually attacking me. I hadn't provoked him or anything.'
'This was one of the biggest beavers I've ever seen.'
Mr McTindal, who was rushed to a Georgia hospital, added “It hurt like hell”.
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/837342-beaver-hospitalises-fisherman-in-frenzied-riverside-attack
Cash offered for humane beaver solution
Friday, August 6 2010, 10:43 BST
By Mayer Nissim, Entertainment Reporter
Officials in the Latvian city of Riga have offered residents the chance to win a cash prize for coming up with a way to tackle its beaver problem.
The capital has been plagued by a colony of the semi-aquatic creatures, which have been destroying the bushes and trees alongside its canal, AFP reports.
City spokeswoman Dzintra Abolina said: "We have no problems with the beavers. We have a problem with them felling trees.
"Maybe other cities and towns in the world could share their experiences on how to deal with this problem."
Head of the environment department Vjaceslavs Stepanenko added: "We are waiting for effective solutions to protect trees and bushes, but which at the same time would show a humane attitude toward the beavers."
Entries close on September 6 and the local parks and garden department is offering 300 lats (£350) for the best idea.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/odd/news/a256987/cash-offered-for-humane-beaver-solution.html
By Mayer Nissim, Entertainment Reporter
Officials in the Latvian city of Riga have offered residents the chance to win a cash prize for coming up with a way to tackle its beaver problem.
The capital has been plagued by a colony of the semi-aquatic creatures, which have been destroying the bushes and trees alongside its canal, AFP reports.
City spokeswoman Dzintra Abolina said: "We have no problems with the beavers. We have a problem with them felling trees.
"Maybe other cities and towns in the world could share their experiences on how to deal with this problem."
Head of the environment department Vjaceslavs Stepanenko added: "We are waiting for effective solutions to protect trees and bushes, but which at the same time would show a humane attitude toward the beavers."
Entries close on September 6 and the local parks and garden department is offering 300 lats (£350) for the best idea.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/odd/news/a256987/cash-offered-for-humane-beaver-solution.html
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Beavers are back, thriving - and making it better for other species
The first beavers to be released into the Scottish wilds in more than four centuries are thriving in their new habitat and improving the environment for other creatures.
Leaders of the Scottish Beaver Trial say two of the three families reintroduced in Knapdale Forest, Argyll, a year ago tomorrow have gone on to build lodges, and one has built a dam to create a large pond with its own rich food supply. Naturalists say this activity is creating an even more diverse environment for wildlife such as butterflies, dragonflies, frogs, toads and ducks.
The third family failed to settle and went their separate ways following the transfer to Scotland from Norway, but the trial licence allowed a fourth family to be released this month and the arrivals appear to be doing well.
The beavers’ every move is being monitored closely in a five-year trial overseen by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and Forestry Commission Scotland.
Trial chairman Allan Bantick said he was encouraged by the first year’s results, which showed what had been missing from the country’s biodiversity since the animals were hunted to extinction in the 16th century.
He added: “By building lodges and dams, foraging in the undergrowth and coppicing trees near the water’s edge, these beavers are fulfilling their role as a keystone species within Scotland’s wetland habitats.
“As coppiced trees regenerate their new shoots, gaps in an otherwise dense canopy allow extra light to penetrate the forest floor and benefit other wild plants.
“Knapdale is becoming an even more diverse environment for wildlife. Butterflies, dragonflies, insects, frogs, toads and ducks are already colonising the new beaver pond, which is a delight for many visitors to see.”
The release of the beavers last May marked the first formal reintroduction of a native mammal into the wild in the UK.
Scottish Natural Heritage is co-ordinating the independent scientific monitoring for the £2million trial, and will report its findings to the Scottish Government in 2014.
The results of the trial, along with other sources of information, will help Scottish ministers decide whether to allow a bigger release.
More than 25 other European countries have already reintroduced beavers
By Morag Lindsey
The Press and Journal
29th May 2010
Leaders of the Scottish Beaver Trial say two of the three families reintroduced in Knapdale Forest, Argyll, a year ago tomorrow have gone on to build lodges, and one has built a dam to create a large pond with its own rich food supply. Naturalists say this activity is creating an even more diverse environment for wildlife such as butterflies, dragonflies, frogs, toads and ducks.
The third family failed to settle and went their separate ways following the transfer to Scotland from Norway, but the trial licence allowed a fourth family to be released this month and the arrivals appear to be doing well.
The beavers’ every move is being monitored closely in a five-year trial overseen by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and Forestry Commission Scotland.
Trial chairman Allan Bantick said he was encouraged by the first year’s results, which showed what had been missing from the country’s biodiversity since the animals were hunted to extinction in the 16th century.
He added: “By building lodges and dams, foraging in the undergrowth and coppicing trees near the water’s edge, these beavers are fulfilling their role as a keystone species within Scotland’s wetland habitats.
“As coppiced trees regenerate their new shoots, gaps in an otherwise dense canopy allow extra light to penetrate the forest floor and benefit other wild plants.
“Knapdale is becoming an even more diverse environment for wildlife. Butterflies, dragonflies, insects, frogs, toads and ducks are already colonising the new beaver pond, which is a delight for many visitors to see.”
The release of the beavers last May marked the first formal reintroduction of a native mammal into the wild in the UK.
Scottish Natural Heritage is co-ordinating the independent scientific monitoring for the £2million trial, and will report its findings to the Scottish Government in 2014.
The results of the trial, along with other sources of information, will help Scottish ministers decide whether to allow a bigger release.
More than 25 other European countries have already reintroduced beavers
By Morag Lindsey
The Press and Journal
29th May 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Beavers responsible for Poland's flooding
Beavers are partly to blame for the devastating floods that have swept Poland killing 15 people because the animals tunnel through vital defences protecting the cities, the interior minister has said.
The greatest enemy of the flood defences is an animal called the beaver. They live everywhere along the levees on the Vistula (river) and cause a lot of damage to them," Jerzy Miller said.
An estimated 50,000 of the large, mostly nocturnal, semi-aquatic rodents live in Poland where they enjoy a degree of protection, animal welfare services say.
However, local authorities have upped hunting quotas for the animals in the wake of the floods.
"Beavers dig tunnels in the flood defences, weakening them from inside. But they are not alone, there are also water voles," Pawel Fratczak, Poland's national fire brigade spokesman said.
Torrential rain in Poland's mountainous south have caused rivers, including the Vistula, Poland's largest, swell to levels unseen in more than a century.
Flood defences have already given way near the southeastern town of Sandomierz and in Plock, central Poland, causing flooding in several locations in those regions.
Thousands have been evacuated across the country, but according to Mr Fratczak thousands more have refused to leave their homes regardless of the risk posed by rising flood waters.
Forecasters predicted intermittent rain and storms across Poland until the middle of the week as the flood crest moves north on the Vistula and the Oder among others.
Poland's government has pledged two billion zloty (£412 million) in aid for people who lost their homes to rising waters.
Last week, Tusk said the cost of the flood damage could reach 10 billion zloty.
In 1997, Poland suffered its worst flooding in centuries which killed 54 people, caused billions of dollars in damage and forced the evacuation of over 150,000 people.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
An estimated 50,000 of the large, mostly nocturnal, semi-aquatic rodents live in Poland where they enjoy a degree of protection, animal welfare services say.
However, local authorities have upped hunting quotas for the animals in the wake of the floods.
"Beavers dig tunnels in the flood defences, weakening them from inside. But they are not alone, there are also water voles," Pawel Fratczak, Poland's national fire brigade spokesman said.
Torrential rain in Poland's mountainous south have caused rivers, including the Vistula, Poland's largest, swell to levels unseen in more than a century.
Flood defences have already given way near the southeastern town of Sandomierz and in Plock, central Poland, causing flooding in several locations in those regions.
Thousands have been evacuated across the country, but according to Mr Fratczak thousands more have refused to leave their homes regardless of the risk posed by rising flood waters.
Forecasters predicted intermittent rain and storms across Poland until the middle of the week as the flood crest moves north on the Vistula and the Oder among others.
Poland's government has pledged two billion zloty (£412 million) in aid for people who lost their homes to rising waters.
Last week, Tusk said the cost of the flood damage could reach 10 billion zloty.
In 1997, Poland suffered its worst flooding in centuries which killed 54 people, caused billions of dollars in damage and forced the evacuation of over 150,000 people.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Two adorable newborn baby beavers were shown to the public for the first time today
RIGHT: Peter Snith and baby beaverThe beaver kits, as they are known, are set to help with projects to restore this remarkable mammal back to our riverbanks.
The beaver are a part of a bold and innovative conservation programme, designed to protect and restore our wetland habitats.
Wildwood Trust and Kent Wildlife Trust, who first brought the European beaver into the UK in 2001, have pioneered the use of beaver as a wildlife conservation tool.
The success of this project has inspired a number of other projects in Gloucestershire and in Scotland.
The baby beavers' parents where given to Wildwood Trust as a gift of the German Government and they arrived in the UK earlier last year. There journey to Wildwood was documented in a special two part programme shown on BBC’s countryfile.
Peter Smith, Wildwood's Chief Executive said:
"More than 20 other countries, including France, Germany and Denmark have reintroduced beavers and the experience has been very positive. Beavers fit into the landscape very well and in places like Brittany they have become part of the environment, with minimal damage to agriculture and other forestry.
"Beaver dams would improve water quality, produce new habitats for fish and help reduce flooding."
Visitors to Wildwood can get the chance to see the beavers for themselves as they are nursing with their mother in our walk in beaver lodge. Beaver are just some of the huge range of British animals that can be seen at the Wildwood Discovery Park near Canterbury. For more information visit our website at www.wildwoodtrust.org or telephone 0871 7820081.
Wildwood is situated close to Canterbury, just off the A291 between Herne Bay and Canterbury.
WHY ARE BEAVER SO IMPORTANT TO US
As busy as a Beaver is not an idol term, beaver act a keystone species which means beaver act as a natural nature reserve wardens, managing and protecting their surrounding habitat. And after learning from the many European successes Kent Wildlife Trust decided that European Beaver where the best hope to restore a fragile wetland habitat of Ham Fen.
Their skills as foresters and engineers can create and sustain standing water and wetlands that increase biodiversity, purify water and prevent large-scale flooding.
Scientist estimate that in America restoring only 3 percent of the original, beaver created, wetlands might suffice to prevent catastrophic floods; the same could be true for the UK and beaver could prove to be the best solution to large scale flooding and climate change.
The Government own advisers have come down on the side of beaver and have recommended that they should be reintroduced to the UK, Scottish Natural History's director of science, Colin Galbraith, said:
"More than 20 other countries, including France, Germany and Denmark have reintroduced beavers and the experience has been very positive. Beavers fit into the landscape very well and in places like Brittany they have become part of the environment, with minimal damage to agriculture and other interests.
"Beaver dams would improve water quality, produce new habitats for fish and help reduce flooding downstream."
BEAVER HISTORY
European Beaver, not to be confused with its American cousin, was native throughout Britain until man hunted them to extinction in the 17th Century.
Since that time the beaver was wiped out across mainland Europe. But thanks to the unstinting efforts of conservationist through Europe beaver have slowly been reintroduced. Now Britain stands as the last European country to be without the benefits of having this wonderful creature restoring and managing its natural inland waterways.
DETAILS OF THE HAM FEN BEAVER RESTORATION PROJECT
This project has been conducted with in consultation with leading scientific advice and the authorisation of all relevant statutory bodies.
The future of conservation: as our wild lands become ever more fragmented and degraded wildlife is dying out at a frightening pace. One of the key issues facing nature conservationists is the fact that at the moment our wildlife is only holding on thanks to the dedication of volunteers and the tiny input of paid professionals. It has become very apparent to leading conservationist that if we are to protect our wildlife for the future then we must restore natural ecological systems to our wild places. This will need the use of ' keystone' species such as beaver or large semi-wild grazing animals to mange nature. This process will be much more sustainable as it will decrease the need of resources.
If we are to match the successes of our European partners then we must put more effort into the creation of Near Natural areas. Kent Wildlife Trust has always prides itself on its relationship with the local community and wish to take forward the debate whereby our farmland and nature areas developed to create a self sustaining environment that matches ancient habitats and created a safe secure ecosystem for wildlife to thrive for many generations to come.
KEY BENEFITS OF BEAVER
1. Help save otters, water voles, fish and a huge range of threatened wildlife
2. Protect our land and towns from catastrophic flooding
3. Create diverse wildlife rich wetlands
4. Improves water quality
KEY BEAVER FACTS
1. Beaver eat only plants NOT fish
2. European Beaver rarely build dams like their North American Cousins
3. European beaver are completely harmless to man
4. European Beaver have NO significant impact on agriculture
5. Beavers live side by side with man all over the European mainland
Distribution: Throughout Europe and Asia Recently reintroduced across Europe. The European Beaver cousin the North American Beaver exists throughout Canada, USA and Mexico
Main threats: Habitat loss and hunting for the fur trade.
Preferred habitat: rivers, lakes and swamps Favourite food: aspen and willow bark, freshwater plants and herbs Size: 105-130 cm
Weight: 18-38 kg
Life span: 7-8 years
Breeding: The female gives birth to 1 to 3 Kits once every year, mates for life and only one female breeds per colony
Performance: This specialised water animals can build dams 300m long and cut down a tree up to 1.5 metres in diameter, although they rarely do this. Can hold breath underwater = 15 mins.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Wild Colorado: The beavers are back
Saturday, May 15, 2010Beavers are common throughout North America today, despite almost being hunted to extinction in the 1800s
By Julie Sutor
summit daily news
SUMMIT COUNTY — The Colorado High Country is known for its abundance of charismatic wildlife, but there is perhaps no other species that has played as pivotal a role in its history as the beaver.
Beavers — and their thick, soft pelts — were the initial draw to Summit County for white settlers. Beaver furs were highly coveted in Europe for centuries, and the animals were hunted nearly to extinction on that continent by the mid-1500s. The North American beaver trade served as a new, seemingly endless supply, and beaver hats were all the rage again in Europe by the mid-1600s, funding the continued development and settlement of the American colonies.
“Across the entire sweep of North America, the fur trade was the cutting edge of the frontier, and the driving force behind the exploration of the country,” author Alice Outwater wrote in her book, “Water: A Natural History.”
In the early 1800s, as many as a thousand white trappers were hunting beavers in the Rocky Mountains at any given time, according to Outwater. Beaver trapping drove white settlement in Summit County through the middle of the 19th century. It is believed that beaver trappers were likely the first to discover gold in Summit County, drawing the second wave of white settlers to the area, according to Caitlin Lewis of the Frisco Historic Park and Museum.
By the mid 1800s, American beavers were on the brink of being wiped out, and their salvation and eventual recovery hinged on the whims of fashion: In the 1840s, silk top hats replaced beaver-felt hats as the must-have headwear.
By the 1870s, beaver populations began to slowly rebound in Colorado. However, their return was slowed by mining and agriculture, which infringed on their habitat and diverted and polluted their waters.
“Beavers have always had a tough time in Colorado, whether from trapping for their pelts or from development,” said Randy Hampton of the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
In the last 50 years, as environmental regulations improved water quality and habitat, beavers at last staged their comeback in the Rockies.
“Beavers have responded fairly well, and now they're found pretty much everywhere around the state where there's water,” Hampton said.
Keystone species
Beavers are a keystone species, meaning that their presence will dictate the overall health of their ecosystem. Their incessant activity in creating dams along streams and rivers fundamentally alters riparian areas, leading to the formation of pools, ponds, wetlands and meadows, which all serve as habitat for other species, including fish, plantlife, amphibians, deer and other wildlife on up the food chain. Without beavers, fish lose important breeding and spawning areas, as waters run too cold and fast for reproductive activity. That impact to fish then cascades throughout the entire ecosystem.
“Beavers do more to shape their landscape than any other mammal except for human beings,” Outwater wrote.
In 2007, Canada-based ecologist Jean Thie identified a half-mile-long beaver dam visible from space. Thie located the dam in Alberta's Wood Buffalo National Park, using Google Earth.
A mating pair of beavers creates its home by burrowing into the bank of a stream from underwater. The beavers excavate upward, creating a den above the high-water line, which they then line with vegetation. Having an underwater entrance to the den provides protection from predators. Beavers build dams in order to maintain the water level above the den's entrance.
Today, as beavers busily dam up Colorado's waters, they inevitably come into conflict with humans, altering the course of waterways and creating small floods.
“In Glenwood Canyon, CDOT is constantly dealing with beavers plugging up the streams, causing flooding concerns that could, over time, threaten the interstate. They alter the ecosystem in good ways and bad ways. It's one of those things where we have to find a balance,” Hampton said.
Tularemia likely in Colorado beaver deaths
Small numbers of beavers found dead in San Miguel and Gilpin counties in late April most likely died as the result of infection from the bacteria that causes tularemia, the Colorado Division of Wildlife has concluded. There is no evidence of tularemia infections in Summit County beavers.
Water-borne tularemia occurs naturally in Colorado, and sometimes infects beavers, muskrats and other animals that spend time in the water. Rabbits are also commonly infected. Both of the recent outbreaks in beavers appear to be localized.
“Seeing two small outbreaks in different parts of the state at the same time is probably just a coincidence,” said Dr. Lisa Wolfe, wildlife veterinarian with the Division of Wildlife. “Water-borne tularemia outbreaks tend to be reported in spring, so these seem to be pretty typical cases.”
In San Miguel County, four beavers were found dead near ponds in Telluride. Another beaver was found dead in Specie Creek, about 15 miles northwest of Telluride. In Gilpin County, three beaver carcasses were found south of Rollinsville.
After on-site investigations suggested the possibility of tularemia, DOW staff transported some of the carcasses from both counties to labs in Grand Junction or Fort Collins for postmortem examinations. Testing to confirm the diagnosis is still under way.
The causative bacterium, Francisella tularensis, poses a low threat to human health, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Simple steps recommended by CDPHE to protect against tularemia include not drinking untreated water, wearing gloves when skinning game, wearing insect repellent (due to the risk of transmission through deer fly or tick bites) and preventing pets from feeding on animal carcasses.
Other beavers will likely move into the areas soon, according to wildlife officials.
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20100515/NEWS/100519852/1078&ParentProfile=1055
Outdoor tales: A beaver in a city cemetery and a moose out in the woods
By David Figura/The Post-Standard
May 16, 2010, 6:00AM
Ever heard of a beaver doing its business in a cemetery? I hadn’t until earlier this week when I received an email from Jim Aiello of Syracuse.
“ My wife and I were in the Oakwood Cemetery (near Syracuse University) on Monday evening around 6 p.m. and observed a beaver. There was another couple walking their dog and the husband took a photo with his cell,” Aiello said.
“ By the time I climbed out of my car and got my cell ready to also take a photo of the animal, it disappeared. By the way, the animal was pretty nonchalant with all of us, including the dog. It was just standing there.
“I went out yesterday afternoon and took a number of photos of the site and the surrounding area with a real camera; walking around to see if the animal’s handiwork could be found. I sent some of my photos to a friend of mine at SUNY ESF and he said that this is the first time in the 31 years he has been here that a beaver has been seen in the cemetery.
“You would expect to see one in the Erie (Canal) corridor — but in the cemetery?”
“In any case, my wife and I plan to go to the site to observe at dawn and dusk to see if the animal continues to ‘work’ the area because, as you know, this would be the best times for the animal to be above ground.”
The interesting part about Aiello’s account is that there’s no natural stream, marsh or waterway in the immediate area.
“The animal was (last) seen going into a drainage system,” he wrote.
Aiello, 66, at one time worked as the curator of education at the Burnet Park Zoo. He said it’s amazing how much wildlife lives in the city.
“I’ve been beaver off of Bridge Street. There’s a fox I see every morning on the way to the gym off Thompson Road by LeMoyne College,” he said. “And there’s deer all over the place.”
It was funny, he said, when he worked at the zoo, there was always people who’d call him after they’d seen a deer on the city’s west side.
“Oh, you have a deer loose,” they’d say.
Aiello said if you look at an aerial photo of the city, there’s a ribbon of green that wraps its way through it. That’s home to all sorts of animals, he said.
As for the beaver in the cemetery, Aiello promised to send me a photo once he snaps it.
MEMORABLE MOOSE
Schuyler Hellings, of Fayetteville, sent me the following account of a moose he saw recently in the Adirondacks:
“ I just wanted to relay a great experience while heading up to an annual canoe trip this year at Lake Lila with some high school buddies on April 29.
“We had stopped at one of the guy’s hunting camp outside of Speculator to check on it as we were nearby,” he wrote. “Pulling off of the dirt road onto Route 30 north from the camp to resume our trip, to all of our amazement was a moose standing in the middle of the highway!
“While I figured that I would see one sooner or later in my life, I thought it would be on a hunting trip in the Adirondacks or on the canoe trip we take every year in the ADK Park. While it was a good 60 to 75 yards away from the truck, we could see that the head clearly was taller than that of the cab of the truck (2005 Chevrolet K2500 4x4 pickup) and the shoulder higher than the hood.
“When the moose saw our truck, it loped into the woods but we were able to observe it for another five minutes or so.
“Murphy’s Law was at its finest as my cell phone camera decided to inform me then there was no more memory for pictures and another buddy who had dug out his digital camera got the dead battery light as he lined up a picture.
“My best estimate was that it was a cow. There were no nubs visible for antlers starting. I’ve hunted for a little over 11 years now. I spend a lot of time in the woods scouting for deer pre-season and do a fair amount of grouse hunting through post-deer season until February.
“I have seen many interesting and unusual things offered by Mother Nature. The sighting of this moose and watching it move among the hardwoods is clearly Number One in my book.”
http://blog.syracuse.com/outdoors/2010/05/outdoor_tales_a_beaver_in_a_ci.html
May 16, 2010, 6:00AM
Ever heard of a beaver doing its business in a cemetery? I hadn’t until earlier this week when I received an email from Jim Aiello of Syracuse.
“ My wife and I were in the Oakwood Cemetery (near Syracuse University) on Monday evening around 6 p.m. and observed a beaver. There was another couple walking their dog and the husband took a photo with his cell,” Aiello said.
“ By the time I climbed out of my car and got my cell ready to also take a photo of the animal, it disappeared. By the way, the animal was pretty nonchalant with all of us, including the dog. It was just standing there.
“I went out yesterday afternoon and took a number of photos of the site and the surrounding area with a real camera; walking around to see if the animal’s handiwork could be found. I sent some of my photos to a friend of mine at SUNY ESF and he said that this is the first time in the 31 years he has been here that a beaver has been seen in the cemetery.
“You would expect to see one in the Erie (Canal) corridor — but in the cemetery?”
“In any case, my wife and I plan to go to the site to observe at dawn and dusk to see if the animal continues to ‘work’ the area because, as you know, this would be the best times for the animal to be above ground.”
The interesting part about Aiello’s account is that there’s no natural stream, marsh or waterway in the immediate area.
“The animal was (last) seen going into a drainage system,” he wrote.
Aiello, 66, at one time worked as the curator of education at the Burnet Park Zoo. He said it’s amazing how much wildlife lives in the city.
“I’ve been beaver off of Bridge Street. There’s a fox I see every morning on the way to the gym off Thompson Road by LeMoyne College,” he said. “And there’s deer all over the place.”
It was funny, he said, when he worked at the zoo, there was always people who’d call him after they’d seen a deer on the city’s west side.
“Oh, you have a deer loose,” they’d say.
Aiello said if you look at an aerial photo of the city, there’s a ribbon of green that wraps its way through it. That’s home to all sorts of animals, he said.
As for the beaver in the cemetery, Aiello promised to send me a photo once he snaps it.
MEMORABLE MOOSE
Schuyler Hellings, of Fayetteville, sent me the following account of a moose he saw recently in the Adirondacks:
“ I just wanted to relay a great experience while heading up to an annual canoe trip this year at Lake Lila with some high school buddies on April 29.
“We had stopped at one of the guy’s hunting camp outside of Speculator to check on it as we were nearby,” he wrote. “Pulling off of the dirt road onto Route 30 north from the camp to resume our trip, to all of our amazement was a moose standing in the middle of the highway!
“While I figured that I would see one sooner or later in my life, I thought it would be on a hunting trip in the Adirondacks or on the canoe trip we take every year in the ADK Park. While it was a good 60 to 75 yards away from the truck, we could see that the head clearly was taller than that of the cab of the truck (2005 Chevrolet K2500 4x4 pickup) and the shoulder higher than the hood.
“When the moose saw our truck, it loped into the woods but we were able to observe it for another five minutes or so.
“Murphy’s Law was at its finest as my cell phone camera decided to inform me then there was no more memory for pictures and another buddy who had dug out his digital camera got the dead battery light as he lined up a picture.
“My best estimate was that it was a cow. There were no nubs visible for antlers starting. I’ve hunted for a little over 11 years now. I spend a lot of time in the woods scouting for deer pre-season and do a fair amount of grouse hunting through post-deer season until February.
“I have seen many interesting and unusual things offered by Mother Nature. The sighting of this moose and watching it move among the hardwoods is clearly Number One in my book.”
http://blog.syracuse.com/outdoors/2010/05/outdoor_tales_a_beaver_in_a_ci.html
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Beaver dam 'visible from space'
5 May 2010, 9:46Beavers in Canada have built the world's longest dam which can reportedly be seen from space.
The incredible construction is a staggering 2,790ft in length, more than half a mile long, according to The Sun.
It is twice the size of what was the world's largest man-made dam - the Hoover dam in the US, which spans 1,244ft.
Located on the southern edge of Wood Buffalo National Park in Northern Alberta, it was spotted by experts monitoring the size and spread of beaver dams in north America.
Sharon Brown, a biologist from Beavers: Wetland and Wildlife, an educational organisation in north America, said: "Beavers build dams to create a good habitat.
"They create a habitat with lots of water like a moat around their lodges so they can swim and dive and keep one step ahead of predators such as coyotes and bears. This dam is particularly big."
While beaver dams are often found to be around 1,500ft long, this one has surprised biologists because of its length.
It is thought that several beaver families joined forces to create the massive dam that contains thousands of trees and would have taken many months to complete.
http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Beaver_dam_visible_from_space
See also: http://news.discovery.com/animals/beaver-dam-canada-space.html
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Christmas dinners for the animals at Wildwood
As we all rush around trying to find a Christmas Turkey and plan the most important meal of the year, the keepers at Wildwood have been creating their own recipes to give the animals in the park a special treat. Feeding time is like stepping into the kitchen of a London restaurant with stacks of fresh fruit, vegetables and meat being prepared to the highest standards.Pomegranates, bananas, oranges and clementines are just a few of the healthy options that greet the smaller mammals and birds this Christmas, ‘It gives them something to work on,’ said Christine, one of Wildwood’s keepers, ‘especially the pomegranates where they have to think about how they are going to get at the seeds.’ But there are a few treats in store as well, as the occasional doughnut can be seen inside the Fallow Deer Paddock.
Though Wildwood buys in a much of the food it uses for the animals it also receives donations of out of date food from a supermarket.
‘We are lucky that Sainsburys is very generous to us with their donations of out of date food’ commented Martyn Nicholls, Head of Press and Marketing in the park. ‘In these difficult times they have really made a difference to our animals.’Wildwood is only closed on Christmas and Boxing day and will be open over the rest of the Christmas holiday so why not walk off your Christmas dinner around the park?
Wildwood's 'Wildlife Conservation Park' is an ideal day out for all the family where you can come 'nose to nose' with British wildlife. Wildwood offers its members and visitors a truly inspirational way to learn about the natural history of Britain by actually seeing the wildlife that once lived here, like the wolf, beaver, red squirrel, wild boar and many more.
Wildwood is situated close to Canterbury, just off the A291 between Herne Bay and Canterbury. 01227 712111, www.wildwoodtrust.org.
Christmas food facts
Eating mince pies at Christmas dates back to 16th century Britain, where it is still believed that to eat a mince pie on each of the Twelve Days of Christmas will bring 12 happy months in the year to follow.
At lavish Christmas feasts in the Middle Ages, swans and peacocks were sometimes served for dinner.
A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head of a pig prepared with mustard.
The Christmas turkey first appeared on English tables in the 16th century, but didn't immediately replace the traditional fare of goose, beef or boar's head in the rich households.
In Victorian England, turkeys were popular for Christmas dinners. Some of the birds were raised in Norfolk, and taken to market in London. To get them to London, the turkeys were supplied with boots made of sacking or leather. The turkeys were then walked to market. The boots protected their feet from the frozen mud of the road. Boots were not used for geese: instead, their feet were protected with a covering of tar.
During the Christmas season, over 1.76 billion candy canes will be produced. Candy canes started out as straight white sticks of sugar candy used to decorate Christmas trees. A choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral decided have the ends bent to depict a shepherd's crook and he would pass them out to the children to keep them quiet during the services. It wasn't until about the 20th century that candy canes acquired their red stripes and if you turn it upside down, it becomes the letter J symbolizing the first letter in Jesus' name.
In Armenia, the traditional Christmas Eve meal consists of fried fish, lettuce, and spinach. The meal is traditionally eaten after the Christmas Eve service, in commemoration of the supper eaten by Mary on the evening before Christ's birth.
In the Ukraine, they bake a traditional Christmas bread called "kolach". This bread is braided into a ring, and three such rings are placed one on top of the other, with a candle in the centre of the top one. The three rings symbolize the Holy Trinity. They also set the table for Christmas Eve dinner with two tablecloths: one for the ancestors of the family, the other for the living members as in pagan times, ancestors were believed to be benevolent spirits who, when shown respect, brought good fortune.
The Ukrainians also prepare a traditional twelve-course meal at Christmas time. A family's youngest child watches through the window for the evening star to appear, a signal that the feast can begin.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Alladale Estate applies for zoo licence
By Caroline McMorran
Published: 17 December, 2009
CONTROVERSIAL plans by Alladale Estate owner Paul Lister to introduce wolves to a wilderness reserve already established on his land, have taken a major step forward.
Alladale Wilderness Reserve manager Hugh Fullerton-Smith this week publicly announced his intention to apply to the local authority for a zoo licence.
European elk and wild boar are already roaming in enclosures on the 23,000 acres estate, located near Ardgay. And, if the zoo licence is granted, then wildcat and wolves - not seen in the wild in Scotland for thousands of years - could be added to their number.
The move is expected to raise enormous concerns locally.
Both Mr Lister and Mr Fullerton-Smith were out of the country and unavailable for comment this week. They are expected to return to Alladale next week.
But Highland Council officials confirmed that they had received a "Notice of Intention" from Alladale Wilder-ness Reserve as required under the Zoo Licencing Act 1981. That Notice of Intention is now also available for members of the public to read.
Golspie based environmental health officer Andy Hirst said: "I think this is a once in a lifetime situation and I certainly have never experienced this type of application before."
Millionaire businessman Paul Lister, son of the co-founder of the MFI furniture chain Noel Lister, bought Alladale Estate, which covers five glens and two river systems, in 2003.
Shortly afterwards he announced plans to create a wilderness reserve.
He has since invested massive sums towards achieving his aim of introducing Scotland's so-called "big five" to the estate - grey wolves, brown bear, lynx, boar and bison.
Two years ago the estate successfully applied for a Dangerous Wild Animal Licence to introduce European elk and wild boar into specially constructed enclosures.
And now Mr Lister and Mr Fullerton Smith are apparently ready to take their plans a step further and introduce wolves and wildcats.
In background papers lodged with the local authority, estate manager Mr Fullerton-Smith states: "The Alladale Wilderness Reserve facility will be unlike any present conventional UK zoo, both in types of enclosures it uses and ways in which only a limited number of resident visitors and environmental education groups will view the animals."
According to the papers, it is intended to introduce three European wolves and eight European wildcats onto the estate along with another six wild boar and two elk.
The animals will be housed in three separate fenced areas each of which will contain animal accommodation, management facilities and service buildings. The highest fence - a two-metre high deer fence - will surround the European elk enclosure. The wolves will be fed on a range of "natural" carcasses and game off-cuts.
Only guests staying at Alladale will be allowed on to the wilderness reserve. The maximum number of visitors on the reserve will be limited to 35, although school parties are expected to increase that number to around 70 on some days.
The papers state: "Visitor access to the wolf enclosure will be from the service road through a locked gate and along a fenced footpath and across a bridge to a roofed viewing area."
Meanwhile Highland Council officials say that strict procedures will be followed in determining the estate's application, including a public consultation period.
Inverness-based senior animal health officer Gillian Bain said: "The zoo licence regulations are fairly proscriptive in the way they work."
And local environmental health officer Chris Ratter said: "The estate has to follow certain procedures and part of the procedure is to put an advert in a local and national newspaper and also put signs up around the area of Alladale to say that the intention is to apply for a zoo licence."
http://www.northern-times.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/6970/Alladale_Estate_applies_for_zoo_licence.html
(Submitted by Lindsay Selby)
Published: 17 December, 2009
CONTROVERSIAL plans by Alladale Estate owner Paul Lister to introduce wolves to a wilderness reserve already established on his land, have taken a major step forward.
Alladale Wilderness Reserve manager Hugh Fullerton-Smith this week publicly announced his intention to apply to the local authority for a zoo licence.
European elk and wild boar are already roaming in enclosures on the 23,000 acres estate, located near Ardgay. And, if the zoo licence is granted, then wildcat and wolves - not seen in the wild in Scotland for thousands of years - could be added to their number.
The move is expected to raise enormous concerns locally.
Both Mr Lister and Mr Fullerton-Smith were out of the country and unavailable for comment this week. They are expected to return to Alladale next week.
But Highland Council officials confirmed that they had received a "Notice of Intention" from Alladale Wilder-ness Reserve as required under the Zoo Licencing Act 1981. That Notice of Intention is now also available for members of the public to read.
Golspie based environmental health officer Andy Hirst said: "I think this is a once in a lifetime situation and I certainly have never experienced this type of application before."
Millionaire businessman Paul Lister, son of the co-founder of the MFI furniture chain Noel Lister, bought Alladale Estate, which covers five glens and two river systems, in 2003.
Shortly afterwards he announced plans to create a wilderness reserve.
He has since invested massive sums towards achieving his aim of introducing Scotland's so-called "big five" to the estate - grey wolves, brown bear, lynx, boar and bison.
Two years ago the estate successfully applied for a Dangerous Wild Animal Licence to introduce European elk and wild boar into specially constructed enclosures.
And now Mr Lister and Mr Fullerton Smith are apparently ready to take their plans a step further and introduce wolves and wildcats.
In background papers lodged with the local authority, estate manager Mr Fullerton-Smith states: "The Alladale Wilderness Reserve facility will be unlike any present conventional UK zoo, both in types of enclosures it uses and ways in which only a limited number of resident visitors and environmental education groups will view the animals."
According to the papers, it is intended to introduce three European wolves and eight European wildcats onto the estate along with another six wild boar and two elk.
The animals will be housed in three separate fenced areas each of which will contain animal accommodation, management facilities and service buildings. The highest fence - a two-metre high deer fence - will surround the European elk enclosure. The wolves will be fed on a range of "natural" carcasses and game off-cuts.
Only guests staying at Alladale will be allowed on to the wilderness reserve. The maximum number of visitors on the reserve will be limited to 35, although school parties are expected to increase that number to around 70 on some days.
The papers state: "Visitor access to the wolf enclosure will be from the service road through a locked gate and along a fenced footpath and across a bridge to a roofed viewing area."
Meanwhile Highland Council officials say that strict procedures will be followed in determining the estate's application, including a public consultation period.
Inverness-based senior animal health officer Gillian Bain said: "The zoo licence regulations are fairly proscriptive in the way they work."
And local environmental health officer Chris Ratter said: "The estate has to follow certain procedures and part of the procedure is to put an advert in a local and national newspaper and also put signs up around the area of Alladale to say that the intention is to apply for a zoo licence."
http://www.northern-times.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/6970/Alladale_Estate_applies_for_zoo_licence.html
(Submitted by Lindsay Selby)
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Beavers are answer to UK flooding
RIGHT: Photo by Les WillisBeavers have the answer to the UK's Flooding Problem.
Lord Smith, Chairman of the Environment Agency, in a speech to Insurance Institute of London said Britain is experiencing a "new kind of rain" in the summer that is putting cities at increasing risk, especially London.
"We’ve been familiar for centuries with rain that comes marching across the country in a curtain, usually from the west, with relatively predictable consequences for everything in its path. That will continue to be the case. But now we are having to come to terms – as well – with rain that falls in huge quantities, all at once, in one place. Lots of it, in a defined area, falling as a deluge. And with climate change, we are likely to see this happening with increasing frequency."
Lord Smith said one in six people in England and Wales are now at risk of flooding.
Wildlife Conservationists have the answer to the problems of flooding which could save the tax payer billions of pounds in the future and relieve the suffering of flooded out shopkeepers and householders.
The answer is to reintroduce natural wetland species such as European beaver and wild horses to the UK and allow the natural restoration of nature's own flood defences like the initiatives currently run by the Wildwood Trust near Canterbury.
The wetlands of Britain used to act as a giant sponge, soaking up rainfall and releasing it slowly into our rivers, protecting us from catastrophic flooding.
In recent times we have spent and increasing amount of money to destroy our wetlands, to build and maintain a massive system of drains at the taxpayer's expense. The cruel irony is that 'flood defences' only make the problem worse further down the river. Planning has also encouraged the building of more and more housing on flood plains which then in turn need to be defended from inevitable flooding.
Successive governments have channeled hundreds of millions of pounds of tax payers' money every year into agricultural subsidies and 'drainage' works that are directly responsible for the catastrophic flooding seen over the last few weeks.
Peter Smith, Wildwood Trust Chief Executive said: "While the rainfall we have been witnessing is very high, to blame it on global warming is to miss the point, as these rainfall patterns are not that uncommon in the UK.
The real culprit is how rainfall rushes off our land which has seen hundreds of millions of pound spent in creating a system of drains. With no wetlands, trees or undeveloped flood plains to stop this water it rushes off fields into drainage systems, maintained at the taxpayers expense, and is funneled into rivers where it creates the devastating problems witnessed this week.
We must stop wasting money on drainage schemes, agricultural subsidies and building in flood plains but rather spend tax pounds in re-establishing natural wetlands.
This can be achieved for a fraction of cost that taxpayers are already incurring, save us billions in the future and will create a carbon sink to help neutralise climate change and give our future generations a natural heritage to be proud of.
The Netherlands have already developed systems for re creating wetlands, while at the same time providing safety for homes and communities."
RIGHT: photo by WildwoodBeavers were hunted to extinction in the UK in the 17th century for their pelts, their meat and their musk glands, which had medicinal properties.
Beavers can and do dramatically change the landscape. The beaver is a keystone species - their skills as foresters and engineers create and maintain ponds and wetlands that increase biodiversity purify water and prevent large-scale flooding.
Scientists estimate that in America restoring only 3 percent of the original, beaver created, wetlands might suffice to prevent catastrophic floods; the same could be true for the UK.
The government's own advisers have come down on the side of beaver and have recommended that they should be reintroduced to the UK, but the UK parliament has been to fearful of upsetting landowning groups to allow the this to happen.
Scottish Natural History's director of science, Colin Galbraith, said:
"More than 20 other countries, including France, Germany and Denmark have reintroduced beavers and the experience has been very positive. Beavers fit into the landscape very well and in places like Brittany they have become part of the environment, with minimal damage to agriculture and other interests.
"Beaver dams would improve water quality, produce new habitats for fish and help reduce flooding downstream."
http://www.wildwoodtrust.org/
Beavers are answer to UK flooding
RIGHT: Photo by Les WillisBeavers have the answer to the UK's Flooding Problem.
Lord Smith, Chairman of the Environment Agency, in a speech to Insurance Institute of London said Britain is experiencing a "new kind of rain" in the summer that is putting cities at increasing risk, especially London.
"We’ve been familiar for centuries with rain that comes marching across the country in a curtain, usually from the west, with relatively predictable consequences for everything in its path. That will continue to be the case. But now we are having to come to terms – as well – with rain that falls in huge quantities, all at once, in one place. Lots of it, in a defined area, falling as a deluge. And with climate change, we are likely to see this happening with increasing frequency."
Lord Smith said one in six people in England and Wales are now at risk of flooding.
Wildlife Conservationists have the answer to the problems of flooding which could save the tax payer billions of pounds in the future and relieve the suffering of flooded out shopkeepers and householders.
The answer is to reintroduce natural wetland species such as European beaver and wild horses to the UK and allow the natural restoration of nature's own flood defences like the initiatives currently run by the Wildwood Trust near Canterbury.
The wetlands of Britain used to act as a giant sponge, soaking up rainfall and releasing it slowly into our rivers, protecting us from catastrophic flooding.
In recent times we have spent and increasing amount of money to destroy our wetlands, to build and maintain a massive system of drains at the taxpayer's expense. The cruel irony is that 'flood defences' only make the problem worse further down the river. Planning has also encouraged the building of more and more housing on flood plains which then in turn need to be defended from inevitable flooding.
Successive governments have channeled hundreds of millions of pounds of tax payers' money every year into agricultural subsidies and 'drainage' works that are directly responsible for the catastrophic flooding seen over the last few weeks.
Peter Smith, Wildwood Trust Chief Executive said: "While the rainfall we have been witnessing is very high, to blame it on global warming is to miss the point, as these rainfall patterns are not that uncommon in the UK.
The real culprit is how rainfall rushes off our land which has seen hundreds of millions of pound spent in creating a system of drains. With no wetlands, trees or undeveloped flood plains to stop this water it rushes off fields into drainage systems, maintained at the taxpayers expense, and is funneled into rivers where it creates the devastating problems witnessed this week.
We must stop wasting money on drainage schemes, agricultural subsidies and building in flood plains but rather spend tax pounds in re-establishing natural wetlands.
This can be achieved for a fraction of cost that taxpayers are already incurring, save us billions in the future and will create a carbon sink to help neutralise climate change and give our future generations a natural heritage to be proud of.
The Netherlands have already developed systems for re creating wetlands, while at the same time providing safety for homes and communities."
RIGHT: photo by WildwoodBeavers were hunted to extinction in the UK in the 17th century for their pelts, their meat and their musk glands, which had medicinal properties.
Beavers can and do dramatically change the landscape. The beaver is a keystone species - their skills as foresters and engineers create and maintain ponds and wetlands that increase biodiversity purify water and prevent large-scale flooding.
Scientists estimate that in America restoring only 3 percent of the original, beaver created, wetlands might suffice to prevent catastrophic floods; the same could be true for the UK.
The government's own advisers have come down on the side of beaver and have recommended that they should be reintroduced to the UK, but the UK parliament has been to fearful of upsetting landowning groups to allow the this to happen.
Scottish Natural History's director of science, Colin Galbraith, said:
"More than 20 other countries, including France, Germany and Denmark have reintroduced beavers and the experience has been very positive. Beavers fit into the landscape very well and in places like Brittany they have become part of the environment, with minimal damage to agriculture and other interests.
"Beaver dams would improve water quality, produce new habitats for fish and help reduce flooding downstream."
http://www.wildwoodtrust.org/
Friday, May 29, 2009
Beavers return after 400-year gap
10:01 GMT, Friday, 29 May 2009 11:01 UK
A total of 11 beavers have been released into the wild in Argyll as part of a reintroduction programme.
Four more may join the Scottish Beaver Trial being run in Knapdale Forest.
The beavers have been brought to Scotland from Norway and their release marks a return to the UK after a 400-year absence.
The release will be studied to determine whether the trial should be extended and beavers reintroduced across Scotland.
The Scottish Beaver Trial (SBT) is being carried out by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.
Project manager Simon Jones said the release of the beaver families on Friday "went extremely well".
They were placed into purpose-built artificial lodges at carefully selected points around the trial site," he said.
"They will now gradually gnaw their way out of the lodge at a pace that is comfortable for them before exploring their new surroundings."
Mr Jones said that following the release, the "real work" of the trial could now begin.
He added: "First and foremost, this is a scientific study of how the beavers cope naturally in the Scottish environment and what effect they have upon it.
"We will be closely tracking the beavers' activities and collecting data over the next five years to help inform the independent scientific monitoring.
'Recklessly irresponsible'
"This will help the Scottish Government in making any final decisions on the future of beavers in Knapdale Forest or elsewhere in Scotland."
Not everyone, however, is in favour of the reintroduction scheme.
Last year, the Association of Salmon Fishery Boards said it would be "recklessly irresponsible" to approve new schemes before looking at the impact on fish.
Concerns were also raised by Alan Kettlewhite, a biologist with Argyll Fisheries Trust, ahead of Friday's beaver release.
"Potentially they can alter the habitats of fish, restricting access to spawning grounds," he said.
"I think the concerns are based on studies in other countries where sometimes dam-building can prevent fish access to their spawning grounds, particularly in dry years where you don't get much rain in the autumn time."
But Allan Bantick, chair of the Scottish Beaver Trial, believes the programme is a step forward in "rebuilding the natural biodiversity of Scotland".
"Our critics worry that beavers might pose a risk to migratory fish numbers, including salmon," he said.
"This has not been found to be the case anywhere else in Europe.
"However, the notion cannot be tested with this trial because there is no Atlantic salmon present in the trial site.
'Historic day'
"Our beavers will be released within a designated trial area, which should be large enough to sustain the natural expansion of their population over the next five years."
Scotland's Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham visited the trial site in Argyll on Friday morning.
She said the release marked "a historic day for conservation".
"These charismatic creatures are not only likely to create interest in Scotland from further afield but crucially can play a key role in providing good habitat for a wide range of wetland species," she said.
"And while a great deal of research has already gone into the reintroduction, this work is far from over.
"Observations and data collection over the next five years will play a crucial role in assessing the long-term future for beavers in the Scottish landscape."
Darren Dobson, from the Carinbaan Hotel near the release site, said he was delighted at the prospect of beavers, and hopes they will prove to be a major tourist attraction.
He said: "Generally speaking it's all positive. I haven't met anyone myself who is negative to the idea.
"It's going to bring more tourists - and this is just one more thing to add to what this area's got."
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) will monitor the relationship between beavers and woodland, water plants, river habitat, water levels, otters, dragonflies, damselflies and freshwater fish.
Monitoring programme
The beavers themselves will also be under close scrutiny, using tracking data.
SNH will co-ordinate the scientific monitoring work with a range of independent bodies, including Oxford University Wildlife Conservation Research Unit and the Argyll Fisheries Trust.
It is contributing £275,000 to the cost of monitoring the trial.
It is claimed the trial will be a major contribution to Scotland's Species Action Framework, which identifies 32 species, including European beaver, as the focus of new management action.
The beavers released on Friday were captured in the Telemark region of Norway in September last year.
They were flown to the UK in November and spent six months in quarantine.
See video footage at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8072443.stm
A total of 11 beavers have been released into the wild in Argyll as part of a reintroduction programme.Four more may join the Scottish Beaver Trial being run in Knapdale Forest.
The beavers have been brought to Scotland from Norway and their release marks a return to the UK after a 400-year absence.
The release will be studied to determine whether the trial should be extended and beavers reintroduced across Scotland.
The Scottish Beaver Trial (SBT) is being carried out by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.
Project manager Simon Jones said the release of the beaver families on Friday "went extremely well".
They were placed into purpose-built artificial lodges at carefully selected points around the trial site," he said.
"They will now gradually gnaw their way out of the lodge at a pace that is comfortable for them before exploring their new surroundings."
Mr Jones said that following the release, the "real work" of the trial could now begin.
He added: "First and foremost, this is a scientific study of how the beavers cope naturally in the Scottish environment and what effect they have upon it.
"We will be closely tracking the beavers' activities and collecting data over the next five years to help inform the independent scientific monitoring.
'Recklessly irresponsible'
"This will help the Scottish Government in making any final decisions on the future of beavers in Knapdale Forest or elsewhere in Scotland."
Not everyone, however, is in favour of the reintroduction scheme.
Last year, the Association of Salmon Fishery Boards said it would be "recklessly irresponsible" to approve new schemes before looking at the impact on fish.
Concerns were also raised by Alan Kettlewhite, a biologist with Argyll Fisheries Trust, ahead of Friday's beaver release.
"Potentially they can alter the habitats of fish, restricting access to spawning grounds," he said.
"I think the concerns are based on studies in other countries where sometimes dam-building can prevent fish access to their spawning grounds, particularly in dry years where you don't get much rain in the autumn time."
But Allan Bantick, chair of the Scottish Beaver Trial, believes the programme is a step forward in "rebuilding the natural biodiversity of Scotland".
"Our critics worry that beavers might pose a risk to migratory fish numbers, including salmon," he said.
"This has not been found to be the case anywhere else in Europe.
"However, the notion cannot be tested with this trial because there is no Atlantic salmon present in the trial site.
'Historic day'
"Our beavers will be released within a designated trial area, which should be large enough to sustain the natural expansion of their population over the next five years."
Scotland's Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham visited the trial site in Argyll on Friday morning.
She said the release marked "a historic day for conservation".
"These charismatic creatures are not only likely to create interest in Scotland from further afield but crucially can play a key role in providing good habitat for a wide range of wetland species," she said.
"And while a great deal of research has already gone into the reintroduction, this work is far from over.
"Observations and data collection over the next five years will play a crucial role in assessing the long-term future for beavers in the Scottish landscape."
Darren Dobson, from the Carinbaan Hotel near the release site, said he was delighted at the prospect of beavers, and hopes they will prove to be a major tourist attraction.
He said: "Generally speaking it's all positive. I haven't met anyone myself who is negative to the idea.
"It's going to bring more tourists - and this is just one more thing to add to what this area's got."
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) will monitor the relationship between beavers and woodland, water plants, river habitat, water levels, otters, dragonflies, damselflies and freshwater fish.
Monitoring programme
The beavers themselves will also be under close scrutiny, using tracking data.
SNH will co-ordinate the scientific monitoring work with a range of independent bodies, including Oxford University Wildlife Conservation Research Unit and the Argyll Fisheries Trust.
It is contributing £275,000 to the cost of monitoring the trial.
It is claimed the trial will be a major contribution to Scotland's Species Action Framework, which identifies 32 species, including European beaver, as the focus of new management action.
The beavers released on Friday were captured in the Telemark region of Norway in September last year.
They were flown to the UK in November and spent six months in quarantine.
See video footage at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8072443.stm
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Unleash the Critters
Conservationists hope to turn back the clock on Europe's wilderness by more than 11,000 years.By Christopher Werth | NEWSWEEK
From the magazine issue dated Apr 20, 2009
The Scottish countryside will soon be home to creatures nearly as strange to Britain as the monster that's said to inhabit the depths of Loch Ness. This spring, 17 beavers will be released into a remote area of rivers and deciduous forest. Hunted to extinction throughout Europe, beavers haven't roamed Britain's wilderness for almost 500 years. Their presence has been dearly missed, at least by some conservationists. Beaver dams create the kind of wetlands that many birds, fish and mammals rely on—and that costly land-management programs in Scotland and elsewhere have striven to re-create, with spotty results. Ecologists would like to invite back other long-lost species to help restore the natural balance. To save the country's vegetation from deer, which have doubled to 2 million since the start of this decade, an Oxford University biologist late last year called for reintroducing the lynx—a wildcat that died out in Britain 1,300 years ago.
Nature has long been a popular cause in Europe. Brits love their countryside of hedgerows and fields, the French their vineyards and the Germans their hiking forests. But in recent years conservationists have set their sights on the more distant past, when Europe's forests and meadows were replete with elephants, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses and big cats. Some ambitious conservationists are now advocating a return to norms of wilderness that date back to the Pleistocene era, more than 11,000 years ago.
The megafauna from that period, which had a dramatic impact on the environment around them, are a vital, missing part of Europe's ecosystem, argue proponents of Pleistocene rewilding, as the movement is known. Elephants, for example, keep forests from growing too dense. Large predators increase the survival odds of their prey by thinning the weak from the ranks. Importing Asian and African beasts similar to the ones that roamed prehistoric Europe would increase biodiversity and restore a natural equilibrium, with the biggest mammals once again at the top of the food chain.
Nobody is advocating allowing elephants and lions to run amok in this densely populated region. The bigger animals—including water buffalo and Heck cattle, bred to resemble the massive aurochs that died out in the 17th century—would live in enclosed parks. But wilding proponents would give free rein to a long list of lesser mammals, including the beaver and the lynx, which some people fear could be destructive. Some landowners recoil at the thought of beavers gnawing down trees and flooding their property; the Scottish Parliament rejected several earlier efforts to reintroduce the mammal. Proposals to set loose wolves and bears in Britain have also encountered resistance.
The Pleistocene-rewilding effort got its start with a 2005 paper in the journal Nature. It was roundly criticized by many scientists, who argued that reintroducing these animals could have a devastating impact on the environment. Advocates countered that the environment is worse off without the animals. Russian ecologist Sergei Zimov is already testing this notion with Pleistocene Park, an enclosed patch of frozen tundra in Siberia. He thinks reintroducing large herbivores—including wild horses and, perhaps soon, Siberian tigers—will help restore the area to grasslands. The Bialowieza forest, which straddles the border between Poland and Belarus, is the largest woodland that remains from primeval Europe. It recently reintroduced the wisent, or European bison, the biggest surviving mammal on the continent (though smaller than its American cousin). Coaxed back from the brink of extinction in the early 20th century, the wisent now numbers more than 2,000.
The debate over rewilding underscores just how arbitrary the notion of wilderness can be. In North America, the year 1492 serves a convenient baseline for what could be considered a pristine natural environment. In Europe, the line tends to be drawn near the end of the 19th century, when countries began conserving wilderness. But it can seem arbitrary, especially to people who can't fathom setting loose predators that nobody alive has ever seen in Europe's woods. "It's a bit like restoring a house that's been around for 700 years," says Simon Milne of the Scottish Wildlife Trust. "To which stage do you restore it?" The European rabbit lived only on the Iberian Peninsula until the Romans began scattering it across their empire. Should we consider it part of the wilderness?
Europe is the best place to re-create some semblance of the Pleistocene, argues Jens-Christian Svenning, a biologist at Aarhus University in Denmark. Whereas most of North America's megafauna vanished shortly after humans crossed the Bering Strait, Homo sapiens continued to coexist in Europe with the continent's largest animals, with extinctions happening over a long period. "We weren't the first human species," says Svenning. "There were Neanderthals before us, and before Neanderthals there were even more primitive human species, so there's been a long history of exposure." Lions hung on in the Balkans until the first century A.D., and the European ass, which the Portuguese called zevra, survived in Spain until the 1400s, around the same time that explorers ventured from the region into sub-Saharan Africa and passed the name on to the black-and-white zebra we know today.
Although rhinos and hippos thrived in Europe thousands of years ago, no one is sure what effect they would have on ecosystems now. "The idea of bringing back megafauna is intriguing, but when you get down to the nuts and bolts, there's a lot of questions," says Dustin Rubenstein, a biologist at the University of California, Berkeley. Species from Asia and Africa could turn out to be invasive, disturbing environments already hanging by a thread. Elephants could destroy what little forest and grassland Europe has left.
The beavers of Tierra del Fuego provide a cautionary tale. When a failed commercial fur farm released its few remaining beavers into the wild 60 years ago, the population exploded, and the critters are still wreaking havoc. Is this Britain's future? Rewilding advocates say no, the beaver will fit right in. Fiddling with nature is not a job for the meek.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/193498
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Beaver living wild in Fife forest
A BEAVER is living in the wild in Fife ahead of a scheme to reintroduce the species to Scotland.The animal is thought to have been illegally released or to have escaped from a private collection, but has thwarted attempts to capture it for almost a year.
Gnawed trees gave away its presence last spring but so far it has ignored traps baited with vegetables.
The exact location of the beaver has been kept under wraps by the Scottish Government for fear of it being disturbed by people hoping to spot it, but The Courier understands it is living in Tentsmuir Forest in north-east Fife.
Beavers are to be brought back to Scotland in a joint project by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.
It is intended to release four beaver families in Knapdale, mid Argyll, in the spring but releasing beavers into the wild without the necessary licence is a criminal offence.
There are concerns for the Fife beaver as the species usually lives in groups.
The government’s Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture agency has been involved with attempting to catch the animal for the past couple of months, alongside the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.
A Scottish Government spokesman said, “When the animal is caught zoos and private collections will be sought to rehouse it.”
He added, “In the case of the planned reintroduction in Knapdale the beavers will have been quarantined and extensively checked for diseases before release.
“We are also aware that as social animals it is cruel to abandon a beaver in the countryside without any chance of finding a mate.
“Most importantly, without the proper planning and consultation which informs reintroduction programmes it is likely that the presence of these animals could cause conflict with local landowners and farmers.”
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/2009/02/24/newsstory12684780t0.asp
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