Dr David Tosh, a lecturer in Terrestrial Ecology at Ulster University, said pine martens have been turning up on the peripheries of Belfast for a number of years,
He said it was not a total surprise that one had been found deeper inside the city.
“Ireland has one of the lowest levels of woodland and forest cover in Europe,” he said.
“So there just isn’t the natural habitat for these species.
“If they had these spaces they wouldn’t be coming out of them.”
He said that could mean more sightings of pine martens in urban areas in the future.
“In Europe they have the stone marten – a very similar species and it would live in urban environments,” he said.
“From what we know about the pine marten they’re incredibly adaptable, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t be able to.”