Threats To This Species
Although they are preyed upon occasionally by golden eagles and by red foxes, humans are the largest threat to pine martens. Persecution (illegal poisoning and shooting) by gamekeepers, and loss of habitat leading to fragmentation, and human disturbance, have caused a considerable decline in the pine marten population. They are also prized for their very fine fur in some areas. In the United Kingdom, European pine martens and their dens are offered full protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) and the Environmental Protection Act.
In Great Britain, the species is only at all common in northwestern Scotland, where some individuals have lost their fear of man and come to take food provided for them, particularly enjoying jam and peanut butter. In England, pine martens are extremely rare, and long considered probably extinct. A scat found at Kidland Forest in Northumberland in June 2010 may represent either a recolonisation from Scotland, or a relict population that has escaped notice previously.
There is a small Welsh population. Pine marten scat found in Cwm Rheidol forest in 2007 confirmed using DNA testing. A male was found in 2012 as road-kill near Newtown, Powys. This was the first confirmed sighting in Wales of the species, living or dead, since 1971.
Read more about this topic: European Pine Marten
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