A cat-sized predator known as a pine marten has started to make a comeback in the south of England after teetering on the brink of extinction. It is hoped that doing so will help restore some balance to the forests between red squirrels and grey squirrels. The good news comes after scientists found evidence pine […]
Tag: pine marten
Emergency plan to save the capercaillie bird launched as numbers plummet
An emergency plan is being drawn up to save the capercaillie, one of the UK’s most elusive and threatened woodland birds, after its numbers plunged. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said the latest population survey found its estimated population had fallen from roughly 1,114 in 2015/16 to about 542 birds last winter, […]
Extinction clock ticking for the capercaillie with less than 500 in the wild, warn experts
Capercaillie numbers have been falling for decades and despite repeated attempts to boost the population it can now only be found in the Highlands. Experts from the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) said that when surveys started in 1991, capercaillie numbered approximately 2,200 birds, spread from Argyll and Perthshire to the south and west […]
Pine martens could be reintroduced to England after a 150-year absence
Critically endangered pine martens could be reintroduced to the south west of England following a 150-year absence. A coalition of conservation organisations including the National Trust, the Devon Wildlife Trust and the Woodland Trust hope the nocturnal mammals could be released as early as autumn 2024. They are working with both the Exmoor and Dartmoor […]
Ministry of Defence use pine martens to control the grey squirrel population
The Ministry of Defence has joined the fight against grey squirrels. The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) has installed pine marten den boxes at the Kirkcudbright Training Area. Non-native grey squirrels have displaced reds on the Balmae area of the site near Dundrennan but research has shown where pine martens are encouraged the more cautious reds flourish. There […]
Nearly half of Britain’s biodiversity has gone since industrial revolution
Almost half of Britain’s natural biodiversity has disappeared over the centuries, with farming and urban spread triggered by the industrial and agricultural revolutions being blamed as major factors for this loss. That is the shock finding of a study by scientists at London’s Natural History Museum, which has revealed that the UK is one of […]
Wildcats return to Netherlands after centuries’ absence
They disappeared centuries ago, but wildcats have returned to the forests of the southern Netherlands, local conservationists have said. The wildcat, which has longer legs and a flatter head than its domestic cousin, disappeared from modern-day Dutch territories in the middle ages as a result of hunting and forest clearance. The return of the animal, […]
Scottish forests could save red squirrel from extinction
Twenty forest strongholds in Scotland would save the red squirrel from extinction even if grey squirrels were to colonise the whole of Britain, according to research. Since their introduction from North America by Victorian enthusiasts, grey squirrels have pushed red squirrels out of much of the country, with reds outcompeted by the bigger greys and […]