Humboldt marten
Humboldt marten | |
---|---|
Individual on tree in Six Rivers National Forest | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Mustelidae |
Genus: | Martes |
Species: | M. americana |
Subspecies: | M. a. humboltensis |
Trinomial name | |
Martes americana humboltensis ( Grinnell and Dixon, 1926) |
The Humboldt marten (Martes americana humboldtensis or Martes caurina humboltensis) is an endangered, genetically distinct subspecies of the American marten known only from the old-growth coastal redwood forests of the U.S. states of California and Oregon. Less than 300 of them survive in both states combined, in three different populations of 100 each; one in northern California, one straddling the California-Oregon border, and one in Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. The subspecies was in fact considered extinct until being rediscovered in the Six Rivers National Forest in 1996.[1] They are most threatened by a lack of population expansion and by human-caused mortalities, including trapping and road mortality.[2] While California has already banned all commercial trapping of martens, Oregon still permits it. In response, environmental organizations seek a ban on trapping west of Interstate 5.[1] However, in California itself the marten is threatened by the increasing number of marijuana farms destroying its habitat in the area.[3]
References
- 1 2 "Coastal Trapping Ban Sought to Protect Oregon's Vanishing Humboldt Martens". www.biologicaldiversity.org. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
- ↑ Linnell, Mark A.; Moriarty, Katie; Green, David S.; Levi, Taal (2018-04-04). "Density and population viability of coastal marten: a rare and geographically isolated small carnivore". PeerJ. 6: e4530. doi:10.7717/peerj.4530. ISSN 2167-8359.
- ↑ CNN, Madison Park,. "Growing marijuana could make these furry creatures an endangered species". CNN. Retrieved 2018-06-29.