Our trend of catching less stoats year-on-year continues, despite maintaining a consistent level of checks and new trap deployment. This is a promosing sign, as it proves our efforts are significantly knocking down the invasive non-native stoat population across Orkney.
Folk in North West Mainland had the sharpest eyes in April 2025, reporting a total of 10 stoat sightings - double the engagement on the previous year.
It's worth noting that between 2019 and 2023, we initially recieved a large amount of reported sightings which subsequently dropped as time went on. Part of this could be attributed to the dwindling stoat population. However, fatigue is also a large factor to consider. Over the past two years the project has explored new ways to engage with the Orkney community and it's visitors to keep people reporting their sightings. Thanks to our fresh promotion, we have recieved an increased number of reported stoat sightings during 2024 and 2025. We've always said that reported sightings are vital to helping us find and track the movement of stoats in Orkney. The increase in reported sightings is incredibly helpful! We are thankful and encourage our community to continue their great work!
We would like to thank our community for their incredible effort and support, our volunteers, and the project team.