Vale Wildlife Hospital & Rehabilitation Centre in Tewkesbury hailed the ‘absolutely adorable’ baby after it was handed in to its care by a hedgehog carer last week
A wildlife rehabilitation centre received an adorable surprise when one of the UK’s rarest native animals was handed into its care after being mistaken for a fox cub.
Vale Wildlife Hospital & Rehabilitation Centre in Tewkesbury announced this week that a baby pine marten was brought to its hospital on April 21. The tiny kit was discovered in a rubbish bin alongside two of its dead siblings, and handed in weighing just 105 grams – the same weight as a standard chocolate bar.
It had been discovered by a hedgehog carer who had initially believed it to be a fox cub, but experts at the centre were delighted to find they had been given the UK’s third rarest mammals.
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Natalie Gould, an employee at the centre, told ITV News that a pine marten had never been admitted in its 42 years, adding the baby was “absolutely adorable” but “very loud”. She said the kit is just two weeks old and still entirely dependant on others for care, with most of its senses still yet to open up.
She said: “His eyes and ears are still closed at the moment, he is blind and deaf, up until about 5 weeks of age. We guess he is around the two weeks mark at the moment, but sadly we don’t know for certain.”
The kit has now been handed into the care of the centre’s hand-rearing team members, and is expected to remain with them until he is weaned off milk. Once he has reached that vital stage, the team will become gradually more hands-off to ensure he doesn’t become overly bonded, allowing him to live as a wild animal on his eventual release.
The centre had initially teased its followers on social media after the kit was handed in, inviting them to guess from photos what species the animal could be.
They identified the “mystery kit” in a follow-up post, revealing the pine martens are “one of the UK’s rarest native mammals”. The animals, which are part of the Mustelidae family of mammals that counts otters, weasels and badgers among its members, are expert climbers and spend much of their time in forest canopies.
The animals’ chocolate-brown fur makes them near-impossible to spot on the bark of the tall trees they tend to inhabit, although their undersides are a distinct creamy colour.
The centre warned that the animals’ population is currently in massive decline “due to habitat loss and persecution”, although it noted that some limited recovery is being made in some parts of the country. The baby marten, which the centre said is “a truly special admission”, is likely to remain in its care until August.
The social media post concluded: “For this little one unless we’re incredibly lucky enough to find another kit of a similar age (which is rather unlikely, but you never know), he’ll remain with us until late August. At that point, we’ll work with other organisations to find a safe and suitable release site for him.”
