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A rare animal that was previously believed to be extinct has been captured on hidden trail cameras in California, according to a new studyScientists from Oregon State University looked at coastal martens in the town of Klamath for three months in 2022, and recently shared their findingsMartens were believed to be extinct in the 20th century, after they were hunted for their skin, according to Discover Wildlife.
A rare animal previously believed extinct has been captured on hidden cameras in California.
According to a recent study by Oregon State University (OSU), coastal martens, also known as Humboldt martens, have been found living in northern California.
Martens were believed to be extinct in the 20th century after they were hunted for their skin.
However, a U.S. Forest Service biologist found a small population of the animals in northern California in 1996, per OSU’s press release.
Over the course of three months, scientists used hair snares and remote cameras to find the martens’ “population and habitat data in a 150-square-mile area east of the northern California town of Klamath in 2022,” per a release published by OSU on Wednesday, Jan. 21.
Hair snares use tape and wire to collect DNA and other data by collecting a sample of wild animal hair when creatures pass by, according to Popular Science.
Forty-six different martens, consisting of 28 males and 18 females, were found following genetic analysis of hair, per the OSU release.
Coastal marten.
Oregon State University/YouTube
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Researchers discovered that the animals were located in multiple parts of the study area. They were also most populous in regions with high elevation, “along forested ridgetops with consistent winter snowpack, and at lower elevations in ravines and riparian areas in coastal forests.”
Around 500 martens live in the coastal woods of northern California, which is only 5% of the species’ former population in the area before it was hunted to near extinction, according to Discover Wildlife.
“Coastal martens like forests with old-growth characteristics, and those types of forests are being threatened by the effects of climate change, including more frequent and severe wildfires, and certain forest management practices,” OSU wildlife ecologist Sean Matthews said in a statement.
Matthews added, “Beyond that, there’s a lot we don’t know about this species, including information as basic as what forests do coastal martens still occupy, how many martens are there, and are these populations increasing.”
The findings, published in Global Ecology and Conservation in January, will be used to inform decisions on the conservation of the coastal marten, per the OSU press release.
Martens are described as “threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act,” per OSU’s statement.
Rodenticides, vehicles, disease, and habitat loss also pose risks to the animals.