By The pine marten was once a common native species in England and Wales, but the carnivore is currently critically endangered. Now, the National Trust has shared some good news because the rare mammal has been spotted in two of its Welsh woodlands for the first time, thanks to a pioneering project.
Vincent Wildlife Trust’s Pine Marten Recovery Project relocated a number of pine martens from Scotland to Wales in 2015.
Since then, National Trust rangers have been working with project volunteers to try and tempt the creatures into their woodlands with two of their favourite foods: strawberry jam and raw eggs. And their hard work has paid off, because cameras have now captured footage of pine martens visiting the area.
The sightings are the first-ever recorded in woodland near Bryn Bras in Ceredigion and the first for over a century in the Celtic rainforests of Dolmelynllyn in Snowdonia, which are cared for by the conservation charity.
Corrinne Benbow, ecologist for the National Trust said: “We carefully chose the woodlands because they sit on the fringe of current pine marten territory.
“We encouraged the pine martens to explore the new locations by smearing strawberry jam and raw chicken eggs, two of their favourite delicacies onto trees and researchers often also use ‘jigglers’ suspended from a tree. This was the first time we’ve ever tried this ‘jam and eggs’ technique so we were thrilled to spot a pine marten tucking in!”
National Trust rangers and volunteers are now busy creating a haven for the pine martens, in the hope that they will breed.
"It is fantastic to see pine marten in woodlands we look after," Corrinne added. "The return of this charismatic mammal is an important part of our landscape restoration across Wales. We are now planting trees and installing den boxes to create joined up habitats to allow the pine marten population to spread even further."
Springwatch's Michaela Strachan recently revealed she really wanted to see the animals while filming the show in their native Cairngorms.
"Fingers crossed we’ll see baby pine martens. That would be a plus for someone like me who loves mammals," Michaela told the TV Times. Maybe she needs to head to Wales!
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