Once Endangered Newfoundland Pine Marten Making Comeback
Few of us have ever seen a Newfoundland pine marten, but there’s a better chance now than ever, since wildlife officials say there are hundreds more than there were 40 years ago.
The mammals are only about as big as a house cat, and they’ve been on Canada’s threatened species list for about a decade.
The Committee on Endangered Species in Canada (COSEWIC) relaxed the “endangered” designation in 2007 due to an increase in their population.
Now, there are signs that their numbers are continuing to be on the rise, in areas outside their traditional territory which includes Red Indian Lake, Little Grand Lake and Main River – all in western Newfoundland – and in Terra Nova National Park.
John Blake, who works with the wildlife division of the Department of Fisheries and Land Resources, said people are seeing Marten in places they haven’t seen them in as much as 50 years.
Could be as many as 1,500 marten
According to Blake, the animals reached their lowest point in the 1970s and 1980s, when there were estimated to be between 350 and 700 of them.
Read full article: Once Endangered Newfoundland pine marten making a comeback.
Photo: Courtesy of Larry Colwell