Pine Martens Born on Exmoor After 100-Year Absence

After vanishing from Exmoor more than 100 years ago, pine martens are finally home again, and they've brought their babies with them.

Camera traps recently captured heartwarming footage of a female pine marten exploring the woodland with four tiny kits in tow. It's the first time in over a century that these cat-sized members of the weasel family have been born in this corner of England, and conservationists are celebrating.

The precious arrivals came just one year after the Two Moors Pine Marten Project released 19 animals from Scottish Highlands populations onto Exmoor. Nine females and 10 males were carefully relocated to help rebuild a population that was hunted to extinction more than a century ago.

"The arrival of pine marten kits on Exmoor is a fantastic sign that these animals are beginning to establish themselves once again in the South West," said Nigel Garnsworthy, restore nature delivery manager at the National Trust. His excitement reflects years of careful planning and hope.

The success on Exmoor follows similar good news from nearby Dartmoor, where kits were filmed last year after 15 pine martens were released in 2024. Together, these two rewilding efforts represent the first real attempt to bring back sustainable breeding populations of these tree-climbing creatures to the region.

The Ripple Effect

This project shows what's possible when communities work together for nature. Local residents have pitched in by building den boxes and checking remote cameras, turning conservation into a shared mission rather than a top-down effort.

The pine martens themselves have been model citizens. Conservationists report they're highly mobile, shy around people, and going about their business without causing problems. They're simply reclaiming their rightful place in the ecosystem.

Ali North, field officer for the project on Exmoor, captured the feeling perfectly: "We were incredibly excited to finally see kits after so many months of intensive monitoring." Those months of patient watching paid off in the most adorable way possible.

Project members are quick to note that the comeback is still fragile and in its early stages. But seeing those four tiny kits tumbling through their ancient woodland home proves that patience and persistence can reverse even a century of loss.

England's wild spaces are coming back to life, one furry family at a time.