Losleathan: the broad tailed otter of Lochaber
As one of the last known locations of beavers in Britain before they went extinct in the 16th century, could Lochaber join the growing number of places in Scotland where the species has returned?
Driving east on the A86 from Spean Bridge takes you through layers of history: cultural, social, ecological, geological, political.
Some of these are obvious – the West Highland Line, a tangible feat of Victorian engineering. The ‘parallel roads’ contouring the valley of Glen Roy, relics of a glacial age. Others are more subtle – patterns of land management, old shielings and sheepfolds. Layers of the past forming the everyday backdrop to the lives of passers-by. Still others are totally unseen, and some are forgotten altogether – lost with the passage of time.
Drive twenty minutes further and you can just about see the end of Loch Treig, where one forgotten layer of history is gaining attention once again.
In 1936, during construction of the Lochaber hydroelectric scheme, a fascinating discovery was made. A large stump of a beaver-felled tree, with distinctive gnaw marks, was unearthed and submitted to the Fort William Museum. The artefact has since been lost, but the entry in the museum’s registry remains.
This was not the first sign of beavers at Loch Treig. In 1933, a crannog - or manmade island - was uncovered when the loch was drained for the dam’s construction. Its pine and birchwood structure also showed signs of beaver gnawing and notching.
Once native to Britain, the Eurasian beaver was driven to extinction during the 16th century through hunting and habitat loss. Today, they’re making a comeback across the UK, and Scotland is playing a key role in their return to river catchments like the Spey and the Beauly.
The Eurasian beaver is making a comeback across the UK.
The beaver is now protected, both for its own sake and for its role as an ‘ecosystem engineer’. By building dams, beavers create wetlands that can benefit biodiversity, improve water quality and help slow the flow of water through landscapes.
Some of the last records of beavers in Scotland, dating back around 500 years, come from Lochaber. It seems this dramatic region, with its iconic landscapes and rugged coastlines, has a long history of human – and beaver – settlement.
The ancient Gaelic name for the beaver, Losleathan, meaning broad-tailed otter, was still known in the remote west Highlands in 1819, according to historic records. Highlanders often claimed that ‘the beaver or broad-tailed otter once abounded in Lochaber’, suggesting a cultural memory that lingered long after the species disappeared.
Physical evidence of beavers remains elusive, partly because they haven’t been preserved, and partly because excavations have been few. We must look instead to evidence of beaver activity – found in no short supply at Loch Treig, thanks to the area’s long history of development and engineering works.
Evidence of beaver activity.
But if beavers clung on in Lochaber longer than elsewhere in Britain, they soon followed the same fate as their peers across the country, eventually leading to a Britain that was without beavers for some 400 years.
Today, the picture is very different. Drive in almost any direction from Loch Treig and you’ll find rebounding beaver populations once again – for better or worse, depending on who you ask.
On the Spey, Eurasian beavers have been translocated to boost biodiversity and slow down water in the upper catchment. In Tayside, beavers are maturing into the landscape and its people. Populations are also present in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, as well as Knapdale – site of the original Scottish beaver reintroduction trials – Loch Oich, Glen Affric and the Beauly catchment. The Ness could be on the horizon, following community consultations there in Autumn 2025.
Scotland’s Beaver Strategy 2022–2045 sets out a vision in which communities are supported to maximise the ecological and wider benefits of beavers, while managing negative impacts. The strategy also supports the active expansion of beaver populations into suitable areas across Scotland.
Beavers create wetlands that can benefit biodiversity, improve water quality and help slow the flow of water through landscapes.
Reimagining a Lochaber with beavers back in the landscape is no longer a distant idea, but a conversation beginning to take shape. As populations continue to expand, the Lochy catchment could eventually see natural colonisation. However, without carefully planned interventions, a sustainable population may still be some way off. Work is therefore underway to explore whether planned translocations could help accelerate their return.
This is a conversation about how people and wildlife can thrive together in Lochaber – and it should be shaped by local voices. The Loch Abar Mòr partnership will host a series of beaver consultation events in the area this summer, to explore what a future with beavers in Lochaber could look like.
Visit www.lochabarmor.scot/lochaber-beavers for more information.
