Neil Jordan, Pine Marten Project Manager, The Vincent Wildlife Trust

Lost in space

As news of the closure of the Ministry of Defence’s UFO unit was announced recently, another organisation was stepping up its search for ‘UFOs’ across England and Wales. For over 15 years The Vincent Wildlife Trust has been recording sightings of ‘Unexpected Furry Organisms’, but in this case the animal in question is not an extra-terrestrial visitor, but the native pine marten (Martes martes).

Although clearly tongue-in-cheek, the UFO analogy is perhaps more relevant than you might at first imagine, as proving the existence of pine martens in Wales is perhaps not too dissimilar to the search for extraterrestrial visitors. Today, historical woodland clearance, trapping and persecution have exacted a devastating toll on the pine marten and it is now the rarest carnivore in England and Wales. Indeed by 1915 it was found in just a few remaining remote areas, and some have even argued that it disappeared from Wales altogether. Other factors combine with its rarity to make the pine marten a particularly difficult animal to detect. For example, martens are mainly nocturnal, and preferentially live in dense woodlands where visibility is clearly an issue. They have also been documented in home ranges of up to 82 km2. This really is an animal ‘lost in space’, but despite this the evidence of a small but elusive population of pine martens hanging on in Carmarthenshire is compelling.

‘Seeing is believing’– or is it?

Sightings made by the general public and reported to us are an absolutely vital source of information. We have collected and evaluated details of such sightings for over 15 years, and the map below shows those sightings which were almost certainly of pine martens. In fact, the high density and persistence of pine marten evidence from Carmarthenshire make it one of the most important areas in southern Britain for this species, and sightings of more than one pine marten together even provide tantalising evidence of potential breeding in the region. Three martens were seen at Golden Grove in August 1998, two in trees in a wood north of Kidwelly in June 1999, and two seen in Brechfa Forest in May 2000. But is seeing believing?

Although these sightings give a vital indication of the species continued presence in Carmarthenshire, it’s vital that we collect DNA evidence too. Not only does this genetic information confirm these sightings but it is also vital for conservation decisions now and into the future. For example, ‘ancient DNA’ collected from specimens in the National Museum of Wales, and analysed at the Waterford Institute of Technology, showed that Welsh pine martens were different from those found in Scotland and Ireland. It’s not yet known, however, whether this ‘uniqueness’ remains in the current population, and to answer that question we need to ‘make contact’ with wild martens. To do so we need your help.

Detect–collect–protect

The VWT is organising a workshop in mid Wales on 20th February 2010. The aim of this workshop is to equip local surveyors and groups with the skills necessary to survey martens in their area, and expand our search for this elusive mammal. Small fragments of DNA can be extracted from scats and from hair snagged in baited tubes, and the workshops will provide training in using these techniques, as well as the use of the VWT’s den boxes. To reserve a place, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or ‘phone 01531 636441. We’d be delighted if you were able to join us on our mission!

For more information on pine martens, to sign up for newsletters, or to record a sighting please visit www.pinemarten.info.