A TINY predator has finally been captured on a remote UK island after thermal drones and dogs were used to hunt it down.
The search for a 12-inch stoat on the Scottish island of Rousay in Orkney lasted seven months and cost a huge £150,000.
Sightings of the invasive solitary male stoat in April caused grave concern among locals.
The small, hilly outcrop of Rousay, home to roughly 230 residents, was believed to be free of the non-native species until the stoat triggered a camera trap.
The red-coated predator threatened local bird populations such as nesting curlews, lapwings, and oystercatchers.
It also posed a threat to the Orkney vole, an endemic creature vital to the diet of native hen harriers and short-eared owls across the 70-island archipelago.
After deploying detection dogs, artificial-intelligence cameras, and setting more than 200 traps, conservationists were finally able to capture the elusive animal.
He was caught in a trap near the Loch of Loomachun, with trappers confirming that there was no sign of female stoats breeding in the area.
For years, the stoat population remained contained to Mainland and the southern islands connected by the Churchill Barriers.
But it is believed the mammal managed to swim the two-mile stretch of water from Mainland to Orkney’s primary island.
Before the island can be declared stoat-free, monitoring will need to continue for two years
Work to safeguard Orkney’s indigenous wildlife has been running since 2019 under the Orkney Native Wildlife Project (ONWP).
The £15 million initiative is jointly run by RSPB Scotland, NatureScot, and Orkney Islands Council.
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.”
Stoats are entirely non-native to the Northern Isles, which encompass both Shetland and Orkney, but were first detected on the latter in 2010.
Experts suspect the initial invaders arrived hidden within hay cargoes aboard ferries or were deliberately released to suppress local rabbit numbers.
To date, the project has removed 9,039 stoats in what stands as the largest species eradication scheme ever undertaken globally.