The study, which was led by Dr Emma Sheehy and Professor Xavier Lambin from the University of Aberdeen’s School of Biological Sciences, used DNA forensics and state of the art analyses to test the hypothesis that pine martens are suppressing grey squirrel populations in Scotland. Scientists from the University of Aberdeen, Waterford Institute of Technology and the University of Massachusetts Amherst have published their study ‘ The enemy of my enemy is my friend: native pine marten recovery reverses the decline of the red squirrel by suppressing grey squirrel populations’, in the journal Proceedings of The Royal Society – B. Pine Martens confirmed as key to reversing grey squirrel invasionĪ study published today (Wednesday, March 7, 2018) has shown that pine martens can help in the conservation of red squirrels – by reversing the spread of invasive grey squirrel populations. The Shropshire Wildlife Trust are supporting what may be the only breeding population of pine marten in England. The Vincent Wildlife Trust is currently undertaking a population reinforcement project in Wales. Pine martens ( Martes martes) are the second rarest mammal in Britain, and although they are recovering well in Scotland and Ireland (a result of increased habitat availability and legal protection), they remain practically extinct in England and Wales a result of habitat loss, and historic persecution. The pine marten is closely associated with forests and has traditionally been considered a forest specialist, however despite their close association with trees, they are not strictly forest-dependent and have adapted to a variety of landscapes throughout their range, not least in Ireland and Britain where deforestation in the 19 th century led to <5 % forest cover.

The pine marten is omnivorous and feeds upon a wide variety of food including small mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, invertebrates, fruit, nuts and carrion in various proportions throughout the seasons, however diet is usually dominated by just two or three food categories, depending on seasonal and regional food availability. It is widespread throughout much of north and western Europe but rare or absent in much of its historic southern European range. The European pine marten, Martes martes, is a member of the family Mustelidae within the order Carnivora.