Freedom of Information - Request - Beavers Caught and Translocated in the Tay System

Date: 06 June 2024 

Our ref: SIR175569/A4602351

Information Request – Beavers caught and translocated in the Tay system.

Thank you for your information request, which we received on 20 May 2024. We have considered your request under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (‘the EIRs’).

Your Request

How many beavers have been live caught on the Tay system and how many of those caught have been translocated to areas outside of the Tay catchment.

Our Response

We can provide information on the numbers of beavers trapped under licence for the years 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Links to the reports on our website for each year’s beaver management report is provided below and for ease we have also provided Table 1 detailing the numbers trapped and removed and also those removed by lethal control. Details of the release sites are contained in the annual reports and again we have summarised these for you in Table 2 below.

Table 1 Numbers of beavers removed each year (January to December).
YearNumber beavers killed.Number of beavers trapped.Total number beaver removed.
2019*8715102
202011532147
20218733120
20226345108

*The figures for 2019 start in May when beavers became EPS.

Table 2 Numbers of beavers released to different licenced projects each year (January to December).
YearNumbers trapped on conflict sites in Tayside

Numbers translocated to licenced projects in Scotland.

Catchments in brackets.

Numbers translocated to licenced projects in England or Wales.
2019*157 (Knapdale)8
2020321 (Tayside)31
2021

33 (2 died in holding due to pre-existing

injuries)

5 (Forth)26
202245 (3 died and 1 euthanased following health screening)

14 (8 – Forth), (6-

Loch Lomond).

27

*The figures for 2019 start in May when beavers became EPS.

The information for 2023 is still in the process of being collated and checked and we aim to publish this by August 2024. It is appropriate to withhold this information until it has been finalised, therefore we must apply under the EIRs the following exemption 10(4)(d) (Material in the course of completion, unfinished documents or incomplete data).

Information relating to 2024 will not be available until 2025 as the licence returns are expected to be sent to NatureScot by the end of April 2025, where again they will be collated and checked before being published later that year.

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

Online appeal service

FOI Website 

Telephone: 01334 464610

Yours sincerely

FOI Officer, 
NatureScot 
[email protected]