Small predator, missing from Pa. for more than a century, might be brought back [View all]

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The return of the American marten, a larger relative of the weasel and mink, will be up for consideration by the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners when it meets this weekend at the agency’s Harrisburg headquarters.

The marten, a tree-climbing predator about 24 to 30 inches long, including the tail, was extirpated from Pennsylvania in the early 1900s by deforestation and unregulated harvest.

While the marten preys heavily on members of the squirrel family, like chipmunks and red squirrels, it also eats a wide range of insects, fruits and berries in season.

As prescribed in the Commission’s Strategic Plan 2020-2023, the Bureau of Wildlife Management did an assessment of the feasibility of reintroducing the native species to Pennsylvania and concluded that the marten “would likely be successful and would be an appropriate next step in the commission’s history of species restoration.”

Previous reintroductions with species like the bald eagle and the fisher have been widely acknowledged successes for the commission.

https://www.pennlive.com/life/2022/07/small-predator-missing-from-pa-for-more-than-a-century-might-be-brought-back.html