NOBODY is quite sure how stoats managed to make their way to Orkney.

But whether they were illegally released or arrived as fugitives on a boat, over the past decade the species has established itself on the mainland, posing a significant threat to the islands’ native wildlife.

“The stoat isn’t a native species to Orkney and there aren’t any land-based predators to keep their numbers under control,” said Lianne Sinclair, project manager at the Orkney Native Wildlife Project.

In a place like Orkney, which hosts internationally important populations of seabirds, the introduction of a non-native predator could spell disaster for both ecology and economy.