On the morning of Monday, April 5, 1999, a live video feed from the marten captive breeding enclosure at Salmonier Nature Park displayed female marten #895 engaged in licking and grooming activity within her nest box. Subsequently, when the animal arose, the presence of a litter of recently born marten kits was confirmed. Originally, two kits were seen, however there may be evidence of a third.

This event constitutes the first captive birth of Newfoundland Marten resulting from captive breeding. The North American Pine Marten, including the endangered Newfoundland race, is notoriously difficult to breed in captivity. Although some recent success has been reported elsewhere in Canada, previous efforts have generally been unsuccessful. Likewise, a number of attempts in this province have all been unsuccessful to date.

This female marten was one of the original six animals captured for the Newfoundland Marten Captive Breeding Program. These animals were captured in the general vicinity of Red Indian Lake in September 1995. On April 13, 1996, this animal produced a litter of two male and one female kits in captivity. These 1996 births resulted from a mating which occurred in the wild the previous summer.

Female marten #895 was paired with a male marten (#896) on July 1, 1998. On July 11, a second female (#933) was introduced to this pair. These animals cohabited until September 9. An examination of female #895 on September 3 revealed the presence of a superficial laceration on the back of the neck. This laceration results from the male grasping the female in this location during copulation, and is a reliable indication that mating has occurred. No such laceration could be observed on the other female.

Based on her previous breeding success, there is optimism that the mother will properly attend to and successfully raise her offspring. However, instances have been reported where young were abandoned for various reasons. In the event that the young are successfully reared, they will be weaned from the mother in late June, at which time she will again be paired with a mate.

This birth represents one more piece in a very complex puzzle. The knowledge gained from this success will be built upon in the future in an effort to realize the goal of establishing a consistently successful captive breeding program. Salmonier Nature Park will continue its efforts in this area and build upon the existing infrastructure to assist in the recovery of this endangered Newfoundland species