Monthly beaver update - December 2025

This document contains an update on beaver activity and population within and around the Cairngorms National Park as of December 2025. The total beaver population stands at 58, including one beaver found outside the National Park boundary, with 18 wild-born kits recorded in 2025. Beavers are active across many locations such as Rothiemurchus, where a large lodge measuring 6 metres long, 5 metres wide, and 2 metres high has been built, as well as various Wildland sites, Insh Marshes, and Loch Morlich, with new signs of activity like burrows and food caches reported in Cromdale and Boat of Garten. The Cairngorms National Park Authority is actively monitoring these areas through monthly patrols of release sites and weekly patrols of high-impact zones, including efforts like wrapping trees to protect them and providing training to staff on dam removal. To help people understand more about beavers, a question and answer session was held at the Scottish Parliament, and the Park Authority directly communicates with landowners when beavers are found on their property, also running WhatsApp groups for those in areas with beaver presence.