Beaver Reintroduction to Scotland, and Much of Europe it turns out..

In the 16th Century, the last of the Beavers of Scotland were killed, and it appears that as early as 1188 there weren't many left in the whole of the British Isles.
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110627142642AAg83v0
They make a nice hat, so I can understand why.

Well, after a 200-400 year absence depending upon whom you talk to.. still, murky waters have returned a bit of reserve and mystery to the British Isles. My research of the Scottish project, the first one I heard about and the one that intrigued me the most for some reason, has shown some success. Beavers as as common as mice in some areas of the US, we take them for granted, so I picture Willie the Scottish Janitor from The Simpsons wranglign with one like Bill Murray's Carl Spackler in Caddyshack. The Project, likned to below, counts 24 living individuals as I write in January 2013, out of an introduced population of 16, and it appears a nearby river has somehow been miraculously repopulated on it's own so that they are deciding to expand their study to observe there as well (could be amateur reintroduces, escaped pet's, or stream hating eco terrorists!). The population there is estimated at 150, so we are climbing towards 200 all told...
http://beaversinengland.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Tay They tried to capture them for a while, but gave up.
This accidental or not reintroduction on the River Tay is actually way ahead of the official reintroduction project.




Below is the family tree of what has transpired so far in the official project which is about 2 hours north west of Glasgow between Oban and Lochgilphead in the Knapdale forest.
http://www.scottishbeavers.org.uk/docs/003__143__general__Beaver_family_tree___Oct_2012__1351071740.pdf
http://www.scottishbeavers.org.uk/

The Welsh appear to be studying the project like.. well.. eager beavers.
http://www.welshbeaverproject.org/home/

The English are, well, also still studying it as well, for two locations.. not men of action like the Scots yet! Actually, reading the wikipedia entry below leads me to believe there are fenced beaver populations in a few locations in England and Whales, but the only ones Born Free are the ones in the two groups mentioned above in Scotland, although movement is afoot to let 'em all scurry free over Albion...
http://beaversinengland.com/reintroductions/

And then there is Mainland Europe, and it appears, parts of Asia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_beaver
Eco-Wonk away!