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Discover: how beavers were brought back to the Cairngorms

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After a 400 year absence, beavers are back home in the Cairngorms thanks to a collaborative conservation effort. A year after their reintroduction, Jonathan Willet reports on how the animals are faring.

It’s just over a year since we first released beavers back into the Cairngorms National Park after an absence of more than four centuries.

Now, as I trundle over frosty, snow-covered rushes at Lochan Mor on the Rothiemurchus Estate to check the latest field signs, I find it hard to remember a time where my life didn’t revolve around these fascinating animals.

It’s extraordinary to think that now, in 2025, there are signs of beavers hard at work in lots of places in the upper Spey catchment.

Gnawed trees, bark chips on the floor, mud-packed lodges nestled at the edge of lochs and nibbled sticks tell the story of a new population of beavers back home in the Cairngorms, a story of partnership, engagement and conservation work in the UK’s largest National Park.

 

 

Gnawed trees in Lochan Mor (Lily Loch) - signs of beavers hard at work. Photo: Jonathan Willet
Gnawed trees in Lochan Mor (Lily Loch) - signs of beavers hard at work. Photo: Jonathan Willet

The first release is a day I’ll never forget. The weather was dreich, but the mood was fizzing with anticipation. We knew then that this was historic – a wild release with no cages or boundaries – and the start of work to develop a sustainable population in the Cairngorms National Park.

The notable nature of the day was lost somewhat on the beavers, particularly the male who seemed just a little bit furious at the inconvenience of having to leave his crate.

After a healthy hiss in my direction (I’m still trying not to take it personally), he clambered into the chilly loch and gracefully slipped under the water, totally unaware of the significance of the moment.

 

A beaver swimming wild in the Cairngorms National Park. Photo: Elliot McCandless
A beaver swimming wild in the Cairngorms National Park. Photo: Elliot McCandless

Work since that moment has been pretty much non-stop. Re-establishing a species that had been pushed to extinction involves a great deal of teamwork, not to mention dam(n) fine coffee!

Letting the beavers do what they do best, ensuring the smooth running and ongoing development of our monitoring and mitigation plan, all whilst engaging with communities near and far – and sharing learning with people who are thrilled the Cairngorms just got a bit wilder – is a balancing act. It is also a huge privilege.

So, a year on and with the second round of releases complete, as I sip my coffee at the shores of Lochan Mor (Lily Loch) I’m glad to have a moment to reflect.

Just to my left is the beavers’ lodge, their home made up of mud and sticks so perfectly blended into the landscape that you might miss it unless you know what to look for, and the sparkling debris left by beavers who pushed their way through the ice last night. To my right are Caledonian pines, covered in glistening snow.

 

A frozen Lochan Mor in the Rothiemurchus area of the Cairngorms National Park this January. Photo: Jonathan Willet
A frozen Lochan Mor in the Rothiemurchus area of the Cairngorms National Park this January. Photo: Jonathan Willet

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It’s quiet, other than the reassuring jeeps of crossbills flying overhead.

This place was already so special to so many people long before beavers were brought back. But for me, being here will always remind me of 18 December 2023, and the beginning of the next chapter of restoration in the Cairngorms National Park.

Jonathan Willet (on the right in the pic) is Beaver Project Manager for the Cairngorms National Park Authority. He worked in the environmental sector for 28 years before joining the Park Authority in 2023.