Background

In 1995, Salmonier Nature Park initiated a pine marten captive breeding program. This strategy is a recommendation of the National Recovery Plan for the Newfoundland Marten. Our first newsletter in February 1996 provided details of our proposed operation and a synopsis of our our efforts in procuring and housing marten. Since our last update one year ago, we have much to report.

Marten Births

Our marten breeding enclosure was completed and our four females were each introduced to one of the four compartments on April 9. On April 13, one female did not emerge from her nestbox and uneaten food was present. A brief look in the nest box determined that several kits were present. This number was assumed to be two, until June 26, when three kits were seen outside the hutch. Following the first birth, another animal gave birth to two kits on April 22. This was an unexpected bonus as this animal was assumed to be an immature on arrival, and consequently no young were anticipated. On April 24, the animal which we assumed to be our eldest female also produced 2 young. This is the animal which possessed an abscessed teat on capture in September 1995.

Kit Mortality

The scene remained uneventful until May 19, when both young of the last-born litter were found dead in their enclosure. These animals were quite large at this point, and included a male and a female, each weighing 237.5 grams with a total length of 270 mm. for the male and a total length of 263 mm. for the female. Eyes were unopened on both animals. Immediate cause of death was unknown, but because an incident of theft and vandalism occurred on site at this time, it was assumed that stress might have played a role. The kits were shipped unfrozen on May 21 to veterinary pathologist, Dr. Scott McBurney, at the Atlantic Veterinary College. Necropsy results were inconclusive, however, both animals had severe lung trauma, suggestive of haemorrhagic pneumonia (causative bacteria - Pseudomonas originosa). This could not be substantiated since both bacteriology and virology came back negative.

It was determined that the female kit was feeding up to the time of death and held normal feces. The male kit had both empty stomach and intestines, as well as more severely lesioned lungs. We are still awaiting a final report from AVC, however, in the absence of a conclusive cause of death, it cannot be ruled out that the original mastitis problem in the mother did not contribute to these mortalities.

On June  11, this female was immobilized for a thorough physical examination. At this time, it was determined that there was again a golfball-sized abscess on one teat. This was drained and the animal was placed on a five-day course of tetracycline. This fluid was submitted for bacteriology to the Provincial Agriculture Laboratory in St. John's. This sample came back as negative.

Kit Development

Young of the April 13 litter were observed outside the hutch for the first time on June 2. Prior to this date, the only movement of young occurred when the mothers moved their litters from the tree-mounted nest box to the ground level box. This was done on a regular basis, and may have been precipitated by high numbers of fleas in the nestboxes. The flea problem was remedied in early June when it was felt that kits were large enough and possessed adequate mobility to leave the nestboxes when a standard insecticide was applied.

On August 7, all five kits were removed from the breeding enclosure and placed in individual holding cages. At this time, weights and sexes were recorded. The first litter of three consisted of 2 males (1258g. and 1193g.) and 1 female (890g.). The second litter consisted of 1 male (1173g.) and 1 female (845g.).

Breeding the Adults

To facilitate identifying when breeding had occurred, and also to test the feasibility of such a system for such an application, a wide-angle camera with infrared light source was installed in one compartment of the breeding enclosure on July 10. This camera was linked to a video monitor and a time-lapse VHS video recorder. This allowed us to record a full 24 hours of continuous observation of a marten pair. Portions of this video were reviewed to determine if matings had occurred. Although no footage of prolonged copulations was encountered, this cannot be considered as conclusive. Problems with incomplete camera coverage of the enclosure, tape-recording failure and incomplete tape reviewing may have caused us to miss critical events.

On July 15, female martens were restrained and examined for vulval swelling to determine if they were in estrus. At that time, no females were observed to have any vulval swelling. Despite this, the male and one female were placed together in the camera-equipped compartment. On introduction, animals engaged in mock wrestling and chuckling vocalizations and animals were alternately observed to be piggybacking each other.

During the August removal of kits, slight vulval swelling was observed in the mother of the first litter. It was decided to introduce this animal to the pair in the camera- equipped compartment, and to double the available area to these three animals by opening the adjoining compartment. The newly-introduced female soon made non-aggressive physical contact with the male. There was a brief skirmish between females when the new animal attempted to enter a nestbox already occupied by the resident female. Following this incident, there was no apparent aggression, and all animals appeared to be associating well together.

Adjoining enclosure compartments were opened over the next two weeks, and by late August all four females and the one male were co-habiting.

On October 4, the adult marten were separated with one animal placed in each of the four holding compartments of the breeding enclosure.

Medical Concerns

Although little aggression was witnessed during the cohabiting period, on September 12 , one female sustained an injury to a hind leg which was suspected to have resulted from a bite. This animal was segregated and successfully recovered from her injury.

On October 3, a female was found dead under a nestbox. This animal appeared to have been dead for several days, and likely was dragged out of the nestbox by another animal. A postmortem revealed that this animal died as a result of complications associated with an umbilical hernia. This was the old female who had earlier had problems with an abscessed mammary gland and who lost her kits in May.

What's Next?

We are hopeful that a multiple camera video surveillance and recording system will be in place by next years whelping season. We have plans to install miniature cameras in each birth hutch. This will allow precise determination of birth times and provide us with an early notice if young are experiencing difficulty and require removal for hand-raising. The tender for the camera system was awarded in late October. To date, the necessary cable and wiring has been installed and we are hopeful that the cameras will be operational well in advance of any possible April births.

Due to customs and shipping problems, we were unable to fill our order with an American supplier for an implantable microchip identification system for our marten in the last fiscal year. As a result we had little choice but to install eartags at least temporarily. This equipment order has since been retendered and we are hopeful that all the past problems will be overcome. As our marten numbers rise, and we allow more co-habiting, the use of such an identification system will be a must.

Now that we have "surplus" marten to our breeding plans (and available space), we must look closely on the eventual goal at providing captive marten for release to the wild. To facilitate this, it will be necessary to construct a large, secure conditioning enclosure, which will more realistically resemble a chunk of marten habitat. This site will become a training ground where young marten will learn to hunt live prey and otherwise be prepared for a life in the wild. This release conditioning process is used successfully by Katherine McKeever in Ontario with captive-born owls, and we will be borrowing on Ms. McKeever's ideas to adapt this procedure for marten.