Lone male stoat captured on Orkney island after seven-month hunt

A lone stoat has been caught after a seven-month hunt by trappers in Orkney.

The creature, which is not native to the islands and consider invasive, was first spotted in Rousay in May.

It was captured on Friday and removed from the island by the Orkney Native Wildlife Project (ONWP), which has also caught thousands of stoats on the Orkney mainland as part of a £15m eradication scheme set up in 2019.

The response to capture the animal involved targeted trapping, dog searches, AI-assisted trail cameras and other monitoring tools, and support from trained volunteers from the community.

The stoat was found in a trap near the Loch of Loomachun - examiners found it was male, which was in line with previous DNA analysis.

Trappers said there are no signs of female stoats breeding in Rousay or a stoat population establishing itself outside of the Orkney mainland.

The project said it was "increasingly confident" that the sighting on Rousay was limited to a single animal.

Alice Head-Rapson, an ONWP trapper, said: "This incursion response was a test of our skills, but everybody at the project stepped up to meet the moment.

"It's still important we guarantee with complete confidence that the stoat we've trapped was the only one, but our achievement here is a big deal and we hope that will help to keep nature safe across all of Orkney.

"Working with the island community has been a privilege, and we're really grateful for all the support the volunteers there have shown for native wildlife."

Rousay is the first of the outer islands where a stoat has been spotted.

Though it was not clear how the creature ended up there, the ONWP said that the island was within swimming distance - 1.8 miles (3km) from the mainland.

Monitoring will continue for two years before the island can be declared stoat-free.