Beaver welfare: Scottish Animal Welfare Commission report

4. Welfare concerns for beavers in Scotland

What is the evidence that non-lethal mitigation is tried before requests for licences for culling?

Is the culling method sufficient to minimise negative welfare through e.g., non-fatal wounding and are practitioners sufficiently trained to shoot beavers efficiently? Are other methods available to further minimise accidental injury and suffering?

Are sufficient safeguards in place to prevent dependent beaver kits from experiencing serious negative welfare, such as starvation, by limiting the period when culling is permitted?

One non-lethal method, which also allows for the controlled spread of the beaver population, is translocation of beavers to reduce local population densities. However, the live capture and release of beavers into new areas has several welfare concerns that need to be assessed.