During the Mesolithic period (c. 15,000–5,000 years ago) the Pine Marten Martes martes was considered the second most abundant carnivore in Britain (Birks 2017). By the early 20th century, however, intensive persecution via predator control, trapping for fur and poisoning, coupled with deforestation, had left Pine Martens restricted to a very few locations, including the north-west Scottish Highlands, northern England, and north Wales (Sainsbury et al. 2019).
After an absence spanning more than a century, Pine Martens are now present in the New Forest. Katiana Saleiko and Marcus Ward report on their observations of the population in the hopes that their findings may influence the recovery of the species within its historic range.