Stoat scat was initially spotted in Rousay in early April, and the ONWP were quick to set up a variety of traps, trail cameras, and AI cameras that alert the team when they are approaching.
Their presence was ultimately confirmed by two images captured by a remote camera.
Sankey said the gravity of the situation depends on the sex and number of the stoats.
“Stoats don’t live very long, so a single male by itself is not going to do too much damage – it can’t grow the population.
“Worst case scenario is that we have more than one stoat, and obviously a female in the mix would mean more stoats.
“This is the breeding season so it’s a bad time for this to be happening.
We don’t know if it’s male or female, it’s very difficult to tell from the camera footage.”