The Yorkshire Pine Marten Project has captured the first images of a living pine marten in Yorkshire for 35 years.
A single male pine marten was captured on a wildlife camera trap on Forestry Commission land.
Watch the video of the pine marten in Yorkshire:
“To finally prove pine marten presence in Yorkshire is a massive achievement for everyone involved,” says Ed Snell, the project co-ordinator for NatureSpy.
“Pine marten are such an important species, being the second rarest carnivorous mammal in the UK, it’s so exciting to plan the next stage of the project and aid whatever populations we may have here.”
As well as being the first living record for around 35 years, the images are also the first confirmed record of pine marten in the area for 24 years.
The last confirmed record in Yorkshire was a skull found in 1993, and whilst there have been a number of potential sightings, none of these could be confirmed.
The Yorkshire Pine Marten Project is run by NatureSpy in partnership with the Forestry Commission and was started four years ago to prove that this elusive species lived in Yorkshire.
Now that they have proof, the project is planning to apply a more scientific approach to the study, including collecting DNA samples and estimating population numbers.
Main image: The first living pine marten in Yorkshire for 35 years. © NatureSpy