There are perhaps 4, 000 pine martens in Britain, with the vast majority in Scotland. Moves for licensed reintroductions in southern England have been slow to gain traction and possibly as a result, unlicensed reintroductions have taken place in the New Forest.Ī licensed project is running in the Forest of Dean and a study is underway for a release in Exmoor and Dartmoor in 2024. They range from 19.76 inches (500mm) to 23.61 inches (600mm) for length. They weigh 1.03 pounds (470 grams ) to 2.75 pounds (1250 grams) Female American pine martens are quite a bit smaller than males. Excitingly, there have now been confirmed sightings in Northumberland, Cumbria, Shropshire, Yorkshire and Powys in Wales.īetween 20, some 51 pine martens were translocated from Scotland to Wales, where there is now a viable population. Male American pine martens range in length from 22.04 inches (560mm) to 26.76 inches (668mm) from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail. The legal protection has enabled the spread of pine martens into southern Scotland and over the border into northern counties of England. In 1988 legal protection was introduced to prevent hunting and persecution by gamekeepers and others, and a licence is now required to carry out work relating to pine martens. Once prevalent throughout Britain, by the late 19 th century only a few populations of pine martens in the north and west of Scotland had survived, due to the destruction of our vast wild woodlands and coming into conflict with humans. Rewilding at scale is a must if we are to support a viable population around Britain once again. One pine marten ideally needs at least 100 hectares of native woodland within its territory. Their deep woody-coloured fur and cream bib reflect its favoured hangout, camouflaging it against the bark as it hunts its prey through the trees. Pine martens are a woodland animal, preferring our native woods but tolerating conifer plantations. They may also help reduce the significant damage to trees caused by greys. This could potentially help defuse the resource competition between grey and red squirrels and help save our native red squirrel. Grey squirrels are slower, more numerous, larger, spend more time on the ground and haven’t evolved to evade them. There is growing evidence that pine marten predation has a positive impact on red squirrel populations, through targeting non-native grey squirrels. Pine martens prey on small mammals, carrion and insects, as well as eating birds’ eggs, berries and honey.
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