According to recent reports from Ryan Institute’s Mammal Ecology Group in NUI Galway, the population of one of Ireland’s hardest to catch mammals, has increased. The population of the ‘pine marten’ has returned to a ‘healthy’ number thanks to tests which analysed the number of the mammals in the midlands and east of the country. The numbers are also higher in Ireland than other parts of Europe.
The team who carried out the research believe it is next to impossible to determine the real number of the mamals in Europe due to interventions such as hunting, persecution and deforestation by humans. Laws protecting the animals have been in place since the 1970s and since then the population has grown.