Pine martens return to Wales

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 Wales.

Conservation groups have reported sightings of the rare two foot long mammals in 25 "hot spots" around Snowdonia.

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 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. It found that while species such as hedgehogs, water voles and harvest mice had declined dramatically, pine martens were showing signs of a recovery.

Pine martens were once common across much of the UK, living in predominantly wooded areas and sections of moorland where they preyed upon small rodents, birds, insects and eggs. They were heavily hunted and poisoned by landowners who feared they were damaging game bird populations.

In 1988 they were given full protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act but continued to decline and by 1994 had disappeared from England and Wales. They are now thought to be the UK's second rarest carnivore after the Scottish wildcat. It is thought they have managed to re-establish populations in  parts of north Wales. It is not known whether the pine martens in England and Wales came across the border from Scotland, or were isolated populations which have managed to survive unnoticed until now.

One of the major challenges to finding out how widespread they now are is the challenge of identifying pine martens. With large bushy tails, brown and white fur, they are far larger than stoats and weasels while smaller than foxes.

But they are mainly active in the evening or at night and tend to live in trees making them hard to spot. Their faeces, or scat as it is known, that they use to mark their territory, is almost identical to those left by foxes and stoats.

Natalie Buttriss, from the Vincent Wildlife Trust, said: "Finding pine martens is the holy grail of mammalogy. Once we know where they are living we can establish what their food sources are and identify ways of extending their habitat and reducing the threats they face."

The Forestry Commission is also attempting to capture pictures of the shy mammals on film by baiting camera traps with jam and peanut butter, a favourite treat for pine martens, which have a sweet tooth particularly over the winter months when they normally eat berries.

Brian Walker, wildlife officer at the Forestry Commission, added: "We have had some very reliable sightings by national park rangers. There is a lot to suggest they are living on the Yorkshire Moors now. Of course, the real clincher will be to get some DNA or a good photograph as we can't ask for money to conserve a species until we can prove it is really living here."