I read with some amusement Clark Cross's letter regarding beavers and their interest in trees (January 5).

Presumably he would advocate the elimination of Scottish deer, which are rampantly destructive. Or what about all those nasty birds of prey which feast on wildlife? Indeed, why stop there? Cattle, sheep or any mammal. They all eat things and alter the landscape.

Or perhaps we should take a more broad-minded view and applaud the reintroduction of these magnificent animals to our landscape. They are animals which live contentedly across much of the world with little conflict with man; animals which will drive tourism in our country with concomitant jobs and employment.

We should celebrate those who have the courage to effect this reintroduction into a nature which man has both denuded and ravaged over the years. It is not the beavers that are, or will be, the problem in Scotland, it is our own species and its fear of the natural world.

Hugh Andrew, Edinburgh.