Decline (and return) of the rarer carnivores

The most recent extinction of a native mammal in Scotland occurred in about 1915 when the polecat disappeared from its last refuges in the north. By this time the Pine Marten had disappeared everywhere except in Inverness-shire, Ross and Cromarty and Sutherland, while the Wildcat had been reduced to these counties and Caithness. The extinction of these three carnivores from most of the counties of Scotland was due directly to human persecution. Ironically, the Pine Marten and Wildcat were probably saved from extinction by the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 when the majority of gamekeepers went to fight in France.

The polecat was gone, but the Pine Marten and Wildcat slowly made a come back with the former returning to Ayrshire in the 1960s and the wildcat reaching Lanarkshire in the same period. Both species are now protected by schedule 5 of the Countryside and Wildlife Act of 1981.

The data is as reported by:

Langley,P.J.W. and Yalden,D.W. (1977) The decline of the rare carnivores in Great Britain during the nineteeth century. Mammal Review 7: 95 - 116.

The counties referred to below were current in Scotland until 1977 when they were replaced by Regional and District councils. These were in turn replaced by Unitary Councils in 1995/96.

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