The first conclusive sighting of a pine marten in England in over 100 years suggests that the elusive domestic cat-sized member of the stoat and weasel family may have been living in the Shropshire hills for years.

Amateur wildlife recorder Dave Pearce took two photographs of the dark brown creature thought to be extinct, in a wood in south west Shropshire last week. The photographic evidence has now been verified by Stuart Edmunds, chair of the Shropshire mammal group.

“The pictures proved conclusive. We matched the exact tree that the pine marten was passing with the pictures that were taken. We have now put out lots of camera trails [traps] to see if the animal or his family – lives in the area. There is a real possibility that they may have been living here right under our noses for a long time.



“There have been rumours of pine martens in England on and off for years. Most of these, on close enquiry, have proved to be domestic cats, mink and even black squirrels. A sighting in Staffordshire in 2007 was almost certainly an escapee from a nearby wildlife sanctuary,” said Edmunds.



An apparent pine marten sighting in Cornwall earlier this year has not been verified, he said, unlike the Shropshire one.

The exact location is being kept secret but it is thought to be close to the Welsh border about 30 miles from where a pine marten killed on a Welsh road was found in 2012.



There is a thriving population of at least 4,000 pine martens in Scotland and they are known to exist in Wales only in small, unsustainable numbers in Snowdonia and mid Wales.

“These creatures are very mobile, easily travelling 20km in a day. Pine martens are also highly territorial, with bigger ones pushing out younger, smaller ones so they need to travel to set up new territories. Very likely, the Shropshire marten has come from Wales,” said Sarah Gibson of the Shropshire Wildlife Trust.

The Shropshire hills are ideal territory for pine martens because there is plenty of forest cover and low human population density. The animals spend most of their active time in trees during twilight hours and at night, so are very difficult to see.

Guardian country diarist Paul Evans, who is based in Shropshire, said the sighting was of national importance.

“One summer evening last year I thought I saw a pine marten on Wenlock Edge: a chocolate brown, weasley outlaw in the shadows. There have been unconfirmed rumours of their return for a while and although I couldn’t prove my sighting I had a feeling they were about.

“Now we have proof; for the first time in 100 years, pine martens are back. This is a return from exile. The presence of the pine marten says that even when things seem really bad, there is a wild hope to hang on to.”

The sighting coincided with the launch on Wednesday of Rewilding Britain, a national charity set up to encourage the re-introduction of animals including the pine marten, the lynx, the beaver, and the wolf.



