Watch adorable pine marten kits thriving on Exmoor and Dartmoor

Pine martens reintroduced to Exmoor and Dartmoor are doing well and have begun to breed – with several young spotted on hidden cameras.

The Two Moors Pine Marten Project led by Devon Wildlife Trust released 19 of the native woodland mammals at undisclosed Exmoor locations in September 2025, following the release of 14 on Dartmoor a year before.

It is the first time the species has been returned to the moors in more than a century, after they were hunted and trapped to extinction.

READ MORE: Pine martens return to Exmoor for the first time in more than a century

The project is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and is a partnership between Dartmoor National Park Authority, Devon Wildlife Trust, Exmoor National Park Authority, Forestry England, National Trust, Somerset Wildlife Trust and Woodland Trust.

WATCH BELOW: Pine marten kits and their antics on Devon moorland locations following the successful release of the species in 2024 and 2025. Clips courtesy of Devon Wildlife Trust

Last July remote cameras picked up a mother and her three young – known as kits – moving through Dartmoor woodland and subsequent camera footage has shown an array of charming scenes as the youngsters play, learn and chase each other around.

Project lead Tracey Hamston said: “This was the news we were waiting for – proof that the pine martens have established themselves and are doing well.

“This year’s kits should be being born on both Dartmoor and Exmoor around now. We hope to see evidence of this on our cameras when the kits become more active in May and June.”

Above: A pine marten caught on remote camera on Exmoor. If you have cameras set up in woodland, please do get in touch with the project team. Credit: Devon Wildlife Trust

Pine martens are the size of a small cat and like to climb trees in search of food which includes wild fruits, mice, grey squirrels and other small prey.

The adults were fitted with tracking collars after their release, which are designed to drop off after six months – the project team will continue to monitor via cameras and would like to hear from any landowners who have remote cameras that capture any pine marten footage, or anyone who spots the animals.

The trackers have revealed a wide range of movement across the landscape. Tracey said: “The results show some pine martens stayed close to where they were released, but others travelled some distance, in a few cases more than 20 miles.

“The Dartmoor pine martens seem now to have settled forming their own individual territories. Some of the Exmoor animals still seem to be mobile but we’d expect most to settle and establish a territory soon.

“It’s been amazing to see where the pine martens have travelled since their release. We can see that they’ve been thoroughly exploring the landscape before settling into their new woodland homes.” 

READ MORE: Dan Bagur: An insight into why the Pine Marten reintroduction matters for Dartmoor

Ali North is the project’s Exmoor field officer. She said: “Pine martens are a highly mobile species and so they have kept us very busy trying to keep track of them.

“We’re excited to moving into the next phase of our monitoring using camera traps to catch a glimpse into their elusive woodland antics. We hope many landowners will want to get involved in our newly launched woodland citizen science survey to help us track their distribution over time.”

Landowners with woodland and who have cameras are being encouraged to contact the project by emailing pinemartens@devonwildlifetrust.org

People can find out much more about pine martens and the Two Moors Pine Marten Project at https://twomoorspinemartens.org