Wild beavers in Tayside continue to prove elusive after the organisation attempting to capture them admitted that only one has been caught.
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has confirmed that as of last week just a single creature had been trapped, despite beginning the process back in November.
The body estimates that there are around 20 wild beavers in the region, which it is attempting to capture after claiming that their release into the wild had been illegal.
Despite this, the project has received much criticism from residents and wildlife lovers, with a Facebook group campaigning against the trapping process having attracted 849 supporters while an online petition on the issue has received 239 signatures.
Scottish Natural Heritage has insisted that any trapped beavers will be handed over to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland for holding and rehousing.
However it has admitted that the process would stop at Easter due to the mating season.
While it is thought that up to 20 beavers could be living wild across Tayside, the fact that the animals have not been monitored means that there could be as few as seven.
Picture used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user gainesp2003.