EDINBURGH, Scotland, June 21 (UPI) -- Animal advocate groups predict that beavers will be a major draw for tourists if the animals become re-established in Scotland.
Beavers, once prized for their fur, have not lived in the wild in Scotland for four centuries. They are to be re-introduced next year with beavers imported from Norway.
An Oxford University study estimated that tourists drawn by beavers would spent 2 million pounds ($4 million) annually, The Scotsman reported. The study was commissioned by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society, which are the leading agencies in the reintroduction.
The study foresaw minimal economic damage. In other countries, re-introduced beavers have consumed crops, drowned fields with their dams and killed trees.
Jeremy Usher Smith of Wild Scotland said that beavers are ideal animals for eco-tourism. Families of up to eight live in large lodges and build dams, making them easy to find.
Up to four families of beavers are to be released in Knapdale Forest in Argyll.
