Once reintroduced, could beavers become an uncontrollable pest?

No, beavers cannot become an uncontrollable pest, like for example, grey squirrel or rabbit.  

Experience from Europe indicates that control and impact mitigation is quite straightforward. Beavers are easy to catch in Hancock live traps or by other methods, so can be simply and quickly removed from any area if necessary.

Beaver are restricted to suitable rivers, streams and lakes usually staying within 20 metres of the river bank and rarely ranging further than100 metres. They do not like crossing land between water courses so do not readily spread between catchment areas.

Beaver have been reintroduced to 27 countries in continental Europe. If this process had posed a significant overall problem, and not brought substantial benefits, such reintroductions would long ago have been halted and reversed.

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What happens if beaver cause a problem on my land?

Beaver structures, including dams and lodges, are not protected under EU or UK law, so they can be managed or removed if they are found to be causing a problem. 

Equally beaver impact generally can be nullified by a range of simple and low-cost methods including exclusion fencing, dam management, live trapping and removal.

It should also be noted that beavers generally only build dams when they become obliged to live within sub-optimal habitats with smaller rivers and streams.

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Culling beaver is currently illegal. Would this pose a problem?

Lethal control would very rarely be needed because of the relative cost-effectiveness of alternative management methods. Beaver population growth is very slow for 10 years following reintroduction, and thereafter removal to another site would be a practical option. It is already possible to undertake localised culling with a licence, where nuisance can be proven and there is no feasible alternative.

In the 15 - 20 years before beaver populations might necessitate selective culling, protective EU legislation under Section 12 Annex 4 of the Habitats Directive would almost certainly have been rescinded to facilitate localized culling or even hunting seasons, as already occur in Sweden and several Central European countries. In Germany, with areas of intensive agricultural production, a couple of hundred beaver are culled each year under licence.

The Directive is currently under review, which may well result in removal of beaver altogether from the Annex.

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