Freedom of Information Request – Beavers
Date: 30 August 2024
Our ref: SIR176502/A4715199
Information Request – Beavers
Thank you for your information request, which we received on 30 July. We have considered your request under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (‘the EIRs’).
Your Request
Please share copies of all the licences granted to kill beavers in 2023/24.
Please detail what checks were done to ensure that beavers were not being killed without licences.
Please share all annual beaver returns from the beginning of 2022 to the present date.
Please advise how many beavers autopsies were performed from the beginning of 2022 until the present date.
Our Response
We have discussed your request with our Licensing and Beaver Teams, and have responded to each part of your request in turn:
Please share copies of all the licences granted to kill beavers in 2023/24
A copy of licences issued in 2023/24 to the date of your information request is attached as a separate document to this response.
We have redacted out some personal information, as the release of this information into the public domain would go against the Data Protection Act 2018, and so we have applied the following exemption to this information 11(2) Personal Data.
Please detail what checks were done to ensure that beavers were not being killed without licences
We undertake compliance monitoring on each licence return to ensure that lethal control has only been carried on sites where it is licensed.
The locations of dead beavers that have been found to have been shot and are reported to NatureScot or to Police Scotland are checked against the locations where beaver licences have been issued. It is a condition of all licences issued from August 2023 that permit the use of lethal control, that any beavers that are shot, should be reported to NatureScot within two working days. Hence, if other beaver carcases are reported to NatureScot or PoliceScotland, it should now be possible to ascertain if illegal shooting has taken place.
Please share all annual beaver returns from the beginning of 2022 to the present date.
Information relating to the annual beaver returns for 2022, 2023 and January – April 2024 can be found in the beaver management reports on our website, links to these reports can be found below.
However, for ease we have provided the tables from those reports below:
| Returns Received | 50-52 |
|---|---|
| Number of licences used (lethal control or dam removal) | 28 |
| Lethal control – number of animals killed | 63 |
| Number of animals trapped and removed | 45 |
| Total number of animals removed | 108 |
| Other actions taken | 1 burrow, 1 lodge destroyed |
Number of animals translocated to licenced projects (within Scotland) | 42 (15) |
| Number of dams removed or modified | 108 |
| Licenced Actions taken | Year 2023 | Year Jan- March 2024 | Total over period Jan 2023 to April 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lethal control – number of animals killed | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| Number of animals trapped and removed (including siteswhere no licences heldby land managers) | 50 (+1) | 19(+7) | 77 |
| Total number of animals removed | 57 | 28 | 85 |
| Other actions taken (including by specialist contractors) | 1 burrow destroyed, (+1 burrow backfill) | 2 burrows destroyed and embankment repaired, 1 collapsed burrow infilled. | 5 |
| Number of dams removed or modified. (including by specialist contractors) | 84 (+ 11) | 22 (+ 5) (+ 3 flow devices installed) | 122 |
As we explained in our response to your information request in March 2022, we are not able to release details of individual licence returns, as this would identify the licence holders. Releasing this information into the public domain, in response to an access to information request, would breach the Data Protection Act 2018. We are therefore withholding the information under EIRs Regulation 11(2) (Personal data).
Please advise how many beaver autopsies were performed from the beginning of 2022 until the present date.
Information relating to beaver autopsies can be found in the beaver management reports for the last two years. Links to the reports on our website are as follows:
Beaver Management Report for 2022
Beaver Management Report - January 2023 to April 2024
How We Handled Your Request
We believe you have asked for environmental information as defined in the Environmental Information (Scotland Regulations 2004 (‘the EIRs’), so we are dealing with your request under those regulations. To be able to use the EIRs, we must apply an exemption under section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (‘FOISA’). The Scottish Information Commissioner’s guidance recommends that public authorities apply this exemption to environmental information and handle request under the EIRs.
If you would like to find out more about the access to information legislation, there is a guidance booklet available on the Scottish Information Commissioner’s website.
Review and Appeal
I hope this information meets your requirements, but if you are dissatisfied with how we have responded to your information request, please write to us within 40 working days explaining your concerns. You can contact us at Battleby, Redgorton, Perth, PH1 3EW or email us at [email protected]. We will carry out a review of our response and contact you with our findings within 20 working days.
If you are not satisfied following this, you can make an appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner within 6 months. The Scottish Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
Scottish Information Commissioner
Kinburn Castle
Doubledykes Road
St Andrews
Fife
KY16 9DS
Telephone: 01334 464610
Yours sincerely
FOI Officer,
NatureScot [email protected]
Document downloads
Due to accessibility issues the attached information, referenced above, is available on request by contacting the FOI team at [email protected]. Please reference the case number (starting with SIR).
