Pine martens return to England and Wales

[Hobjob]

Pine martens return to England and Wales
Pine martens have returned to England and Wales nearly 15 years after they were officially declared extinct in those countries.


By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent
Last Updated: 7:51PM GMT 27 Dec 2008
Back from the brink: pine martens were thought to have died out south of the border. Photo: Nature Picture Library

The elusive, cat-sized predators were almost wiped out across the UK due to persecution from humans and habitat loss, except for a few scattered populations in Scotland.

A new report, however, reveals the brown and white carnivores, which are related to badgers and stoats, are starting to regain a foothold in parts of England and Wales.

Conservation groups have reported sightings of the rare two foot long mammals in 25 "hot spots" around the Lake District, Yorkshire, Snowdonia and even as far south as Staffordshire.

Experts using DNA testing have also found evidence of pine martens in the Cwm Rheidol valley, near Aberystwyth, Wales, for the first time in 50 years.

Until now there has been little evidence of the shy mammals living outside of Scotland and suggestions of populations south of the border have been controversial.

"It now looks like there is evidence of pine martens in England and Wales for the first time since they are thought to have died out," said Professor David MacDonald, a zoologist at Oxford University who co-wrote the report.

"There are still question marks over how viable those populations are, but it is a positive result in those areas that contrasts quite starkly with how pine martens are seen in the north of Scotland.

"They are relatively widespread there, but are not universally welcomed as the game keeping fraternity regard them as pests that prey upon pheasants and capercaillie."

More at Pine martens return to England and Wales - Telegraph

[Ukwildlifeo]

Great to have them back - and they'll give the grey squirrels a nasty shock

[tcvarlh]

Originally Posted by Ukwildlifeo

Great to have them back - and they'll give the grey squirrels a nasty shock

Gave me a nasty shock when I tried the brakes on my old Puch SGS 250. The little devils enjoy chewing rubber, if you live near martens you need armoured brake pipes and cables. But they are wonderful to watch. They like warm engines too.

[Dogs]

There have been odd ones into the kielder forrest in Northumberland and Cumbria for years, but I seriously doubt they have 'spread' naturally down to Yorkshire and Shropshire without colonising all of the areas in between, the isolated populations are more likely to be releases. Or perhaps, more likely with Wales, they were never completely eradicated.
And in the kielder forrest they will pose a serious threat to the already very vaunerable red squirrel, which has been pushed all the way up to the forrest edge by the greys. Its belived that these large forrest areas are going to be the saving grace of the red squirrel, but with added pressures within the forrests from, not just increasing marten populations, but goshawks, and other predators, I think its just a matter of time until wee kiss our native squirrel goodbye!

[pammosley]

Isn`t this great news It would be great to see one

[The Woodman]

tcvarlh - I'll bet you had your problems with your Puch moped in Europe, not Britain. The Stone Marten has developed a taste for rubber coated cables etc. in autos and causes havoc with HT leads and similar over on the mainland. The phenomenon is well documented and as far as I'm aware the Stone (or Beech ((the same)) Marten not the Pine Marten) is the culprit.
Pine Martens and Red Squirrels have co-existed happily for hundreds of years in Britain and there is no reason to be concerned about Red Squirrel predation. Foxes prey on Pine martens and there is a Cumbrian saying, "Where foxes are rank (plentiful), marts are scarce".
Dietry studies have shown that Red Squirrels form a very small percentage of Pine Martens diet. Small mammals and birds- notably field voles and pipits and finches along with invertebrates form the majority of their diet.
Unfortunately, due to other pressures these elusive beasts have retreated from their former strongholds including North Yorkshire and the Peak District.
Pine Martens are kept in private captivity and do escape from time to time. Odd road casualities records occur in places like Chorley (Lancs) and the New Forest. A probable explanation of these individuals is that they were escapees.
I have seen a photograph of a recent Pine Marten in Staffordshire but could not speculate about the animals provenance.
There have been a small number of credible sightings of Pine Martens in Cumbria but a recent (August 2008) scat survey of four areas considered to be "hot spots" failed to determine thein the analysis of 124 scats.
If anyone has seen a Pine Marten in England or Wales, please have look at the Vincent Wildlife Trusts's website and give them a ring or email the details.

[larachmor]

It would be great news if the Pine Marten were to re-establish its presence south of the border. As Woodman states, the martens have for centuries, and still do, share the same habitat as red squirrel, and capercaillie too. No doubting however they are efficient and extremely agile little predators, and for this reason draw a lot of bad press.

[Rob_D]

They never went away completely in England, and probably in Wales either. It's not that they have re-colonised, just that the idea that they disappeared in England and Wales by 1994 was wrong. Hopefully they have increased recently, though perhaps that's very hard to gauge with all the difficulties of surveying them.

http://www.vwt.org.uk/publications/P...n_response.pdf

Given that Scottish Pine Marten get plenty of attention from the media, I am amazed the English and Welsh populations are not the focus of some big, well funded projects to study these populations and ensure their protection. OK, for the media, it's hard to make a TV programme about an animal you can't film, but isn't the search for the lost Welsh Pine Marten a great media story? Much more interesting than searching for the Loch Ness Monster because there is a chance of success.

[Fauna]

Originally Posted by Rob_D

They never went away completely in England, and probably in Wales either. It's not that they have re-colonised, just that the idea that they disappeared in England and Wales by 1994 was wrong. Hopefully they have increased recently, though perhaps that's very hard to gauge with all the difficulties of surveying them..

I agree, there has been sparadic sightings of Pine Martin around Carmarthenshire and the Breconshire areas over the years. Just 4 months ago a Pine Martin was spotted by Forestry workers/rangers a little south of the Beacons.


Regards Chris.

[kiwi]

Do you think this is good news for the red squirrels? I'm sure they can cope with natural predators like they do in Scotland as all other animals do when the food chain gets balanced. Or do you think they wont bother with grays because they're not native. If they do kill the grays the reds can move in though and maybe adapt to live in parks and gardens just like the fox has.