Beavers are back in Scotland!

Welcome to the official home of the Scottish Beaver Trial. Here you can find all the latest news about the UK's first formal mammal reintroduction and the beaver families living wild in the Heart of Argyll. See how the beavers are settling into their new home in Scotland, plan your visit and discover how you can support this unique conservation project.

Beavers are back for good!

On 24 November 2016, the Scottish Government made the landmark announcement that beavers are to remain in Scotland.

Further to this, on 23 February 2019, the Scottish Government announced that beavers were to be legally protected as a European Protected Species. This is due to come into force on 1 May 2019.

For more information, please keep watch on the latest news pages on the Scottish Wildlife Trust and RZSS websites.

Latest news

Now that the Trial has ended, this website will no longer be updated. For updates on the beaver re-enforcement project, please visit the website of the Scottish Wildlife Trust or the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.

Plan your visit

Visit Knapdale Forest in the Heart of Argyll and see the signs of beaver activity. Only a two-hour drive from Glasgow. Click here to plan your trip.

Support the Trial

There are various ways you can support the Scottish Beaver Trial, from volunteering to adopting a beaver. Click here to discover how you can help the project today.

The Scottish Beaver Trial is a partnership project between the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, the Scottish Wildlife Trust and host Forestry Commission Scotland to undertake a time-limited, five-year trial reintroduction of Eurasian beavers to Knapdale, Mid-Argyll.

The licence for the Trial was granted by the Scottish Government in May 2008, with the first beavers being released in May 2009. Scottish Natural Heritage co-ordinated the independent scientific monitoring of the trial, reporting progress to the Scottish Government and monitored how the conditions of the licence are being addressed on the ground. The monitoring phase of the trial has now finished. All scientific findings will be presented to the Scottish Government by Scottish Natural Heritage in May 2015 where a decision will be made.