In recent years, pine martens have been reintroduced to areas around Devil’s Bridge. Reintroduction projects aim to restore the important role of this species in local environments.
Pine martens are medium-sized mammals with slender, long bodies, short legs, and bushy tails. Their fur is generally dark brown, and they have a distinctive cream or yellow-coloured patch on their throat. Pine martens adapt quickly and are known to live in various woodland habitats. They are skilled climbers who spend much of their time in trees, using their sharp claws and agile bodies to move through the branches. Their diet mainly consists of small mammals such as rodents, birds, and insects, but they may also eat fruits, nuts, and dead animals. Pine martens are mainly nocturnal animals, meaning they are most active at night.
In the past, pine martens were widespread across the United Kingdom and Ireland, but their numbers dropped significantly due to habitat loss, persecution by gamekeepers, and being killed for their fur. Despite this, and although very rare, pine martens were still surviving in low numbers in parts of the Cambrian Mountains, Carmarthenshire, and Snowdonia. Following a feasibility study, pine martens were captured in the Highlands of Scotland where their numbers were high and released in forests in mid-Wales. Between 2015-2017, 51 pine martens were moved. These have become established, and their breeding has been recorded every year since.