Hidden cameras spot New Forest pine marten - BBC News (link to video)
Hidden wildlife cameras have shown evidence of a possible “established population” of pine marten in the New Forest, conservationists have said.
A new study aims to discover more about how the rare creatures have bred in the New Forest National Park.
The cat-sized member of the weasel family are notoriously elusive - sleeping and making dens high up in the trees and only coming out at night to hunt.
“A lot of hours” of footage from 30 cameras dotted throughout the forest had to be checked through before any pine marten were spotted.
With no clear idea about exactly how many pine marten are currently in the forest, a team from Forestry England, The New Forest Study Group, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and Wild New Forest is set to carry out further studies into the creatures in the coming years.
Marcus Ward of the Wild New Forest conservation group said: “Pine marten were native to these woods - they should be here. They play an important role in the ecosystem in the New Forest - we have a non-native grey squirrel population which can be damaging to the forest and pine marten would potentially help reduce those numbers.”
Shy Pine Marten
A member of the weasel family, pine marten prefer well-wooded areas with plenty of cover and largely feed on small rodents, birds, insects and fruit. They were all but extinct from England by 1900 due to habitat loss and being hunted for their fur. Only a small and fragmented population remains mostly in northern England, Scotland and parts of Wales.
Every pine marten is chestnut brown in colour but each has a uniquely shaped bib - a pale yellow section of fur on its chin and throat - which makes it possible to identify and record each individual.
That is excellent news … 