Pine marten kits spotted 100 years after extinction

By Blaise Cloran

The endangered pine marten has been brought back to the South West of England after going extinct 100 years ago.

New video footage from the Two Moors Pine Marten Project shows a female pine marten with four of her kits exploring woodland in Exmoor.

The conservation project aims to re-establish a sustainable breeding population of members of the weasel family to the South West following their extinction more than 100 years ago.

The kits can be seen scampering through Exmoor undergrowth and climbing a trail camera which has been specially baited with peanut butter and fish oil.

The video of the pine marten's offspring is proof that the reintroduction of 19 pine martens to Exmoor in 2025 was successful.

The Two Moors Pine Marten Project, led by Devon Wildlife Trust, also reintroduced 15 pine martens to locations on Dartmoor in 2024 and in Wales in 2015 and the Forest of Dean in 2019.

In a second video, a mother and two kits can be seen exploring their woodland surroundings in Dartmoor at nighttime.

The conservation project is part of a national strategy to restore pine martens across England and Wales.

Ali North, the Two Moors Pine Marten Project field officer for Exmoor, said: "These clips were recorded on cameras being monitored by one of our brilliant project volunteers.

"We were incredibly excited to finally see kits after so many months of intensive monitoring. Mothers give birth in March or April and have on average two to three kits, so to see 4 with their mum was an amazing sight and suggests that Exmoor is the perfect home for these animals."

The Exmoor video footage was captured by some of the trail cameras installed by the project in the woodland and is believed to be around three months old.

Ali Hawkins, a senior ecologist at Exmoor National Park Authority, explained that continued public support will be vital as the animals are small and vulnerable.

Ali said: "Seeing pine martens breeding on Exmoor is a hugely encouraging milestone for nature recovery in the National Park.

"While this is very positive news, the population remains small and vulnerable, so continued public support and reporting of sightings will be vital as we help this native species re-establish itself."

Further film footage from Dartmoor suggests that pine martens have bred for a second successive year there.

Local residents Tim and Rachael who captured the Dartmoor footage said: "Since moving to the Wray Valley last year, we have been extremely lucky, as we have managed to capture quite a few trail cam videos of pine martens in the woods behind where we live.

We have only ever filmed a single one at a time, so we couldn't believe our eyes when we downloaded this video of a mother with her two kits, playing alongside her. We feel very fortunate to have experienced this sighting and so glad to see the success of the Two Moors Pine Marten Project!"

Daniel Brown, the Two Moors Pine Marten Project field officer for Dartmoor, said: "Pine martens live at low density – meaning there aren't many of them around, even when they become established in a landscape.

"They are also slow breeders - giving birth to just one litter each year. This means their population growth is only gradual.

"This makes their populations vulnerable to losses in road accidents, while trapping and poisoning from rodenticides are also a threat."