MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: CONTEMPORARY REPORTS OF PINE MARTENS IN THE NEW FOREST

If orthodox zoology is to be believed the Pine Marten is supposed to have been extinct in the New Forest for about 100 years ( please correct me if I`m wrong). In February 2009 there was a conversation on the Wild About Britain Forum (which I featured in my recent blogs about a very large fox in Surrey) about the Pine Marten in Southern England.

The post immediately before the one that broke the news about Pine Martens in the New Forest was as follows:

Rob_D
15-2-2009
Re: Pine Martens in southern England?

James,like you, I`d love to think that pine martens could thrive in the New Forest or in Breckland. I don`t have the knowledge to form my own opinion. But you have not addressed the VWT`s [Vincent Wildlife Trust`s-R] main issue – the surviving populations in England and Wales. You need to answer questions 1,2 & 3 on page 6 [probably a VWT document-R] and not least meet international guidelines……….What makes the New Forest any better than the current relict areas like Kielder or Shropshire where the martens are struggling?

The VWT seems negative, but all they are saying is that we need to answer these questions first. Those who proposed the re-introduction (PTES) prefer to pretend the relict populations don`t exist. Isn`t that shameful? Surely we must not refuse to help or study the rarest native mammal in England or Wales just because it suits our aims for a high profile re-introduction.

Then more than 2 years later:

Deepest blue
3-6-2011
Re: Pine Martens in southern England?

Pine martens alive and well in the New Forest, sighted march 2011 got a good view of one along side of a ride in the forest,( isolated spot) I have found scent marking pooh in the middle of a track unsure if its PM or Badger but from the info I can find its PM

Flywaver
4-6-2011
Re: Pine Martens in southern England?

How about Thetford Forest? It’s the largest lowland Pine forest in Britain. Which is the best area to find Red Squirrels in Thetford Forest?

Rob_D
5-6-2011
Re: Pine Martens in southern England?

Welcome deepest_blue and congrats on the sighting. If you haven`t already , you might want to contact the VWT to report your sighting. It seems very hard to ID PM scats accurately. Most common seems to be confusing Fox for PM……………….According to their reports there were 5 good quality PM sightings in the S Hants area between 2000-2005 , so perhaps there`s little doubt there are some present in the New Forest. The question is how did they get there? The report shows a captive collection near to the New Forest. DNA research will give evidence about the origins of the different groups around the British Isles, but it seems the picture is still emerging. At least its good news that one was confirmed in Grizedale.

So there we are, the New Forest Pine Martens.