Cannabis growth is killing one of the cutest (and fiercest) creatures in the US
The Humboldt marten could soon be an endangered species in California as the weed industry threatens its habitat
Fierce yet adorable, Humboldt martens have been described as the west coast’s own Tasmanian devils. The biologist Tierra Curry compares the red-chested mammal to another small, tenacious creature: “It’s a kitten that thinks it’s a honey badger,” she said. “It will crawl right into a bee nest and eat the honeycomb and larvae, getting its face stung the whole time.”
But there are some dangers that the marten cannot withstand – such as marijuana cultivation.
The state of California has announced that it is seeking to declare the Humboldt marten an endangered species, owing to the risks it faces from deforestation and, surprisingly, the cannabis industry. It is not the only species for which pot poses a lethal problem.
Martens live in dense forests where low branches, decaying logs and evergreen bushes provide them with cover from predators like coyotes and bobcats. Along with honey they eat lizards, insects, birds, voles, squirrels and flying squirrels. “They are secretive deep forest dwellers,” said Curry, a senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity, a not-for-profit advocacy group that has petitioned state and federal authorities to list the animal as endangered. “They symbolize the wild heart of the forest.”
But as redwood forests have shrunk in northern California, so has the marten population. There are two populations, with 100 in Oregon and an estimated 200 in three northern California counties – which, unfortunately for them, overlap with California’s Emerald Triangle, an epicenter of cannabis cultivation.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/27/cannabis-humboldt-marten-california-endangered
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