On a wildlife safari with Natural Habitat Adventures, guests to Yellowstone National Park ended up spotting one of the park’s rarest animals—an American pine marten. These animals prefer to move about at night, which contributes to their elusive reputation. However, this group of tourists got lucky when they spotted a marten posing on a tree trunk.
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American pine martens are small North American mammals in the Mustelidae family, which also includes weasels, sea otters, and wolverines. The National Park Service (NPS) describes these weasel relatives as being solitary, highly territorial, and typically nocturnal.
“An amazing sighting on our Yellowstone Safari!” wrote Natural Habitat Adventures in its Instagram post sharing the footage. “Our travelers came face-to-face with one of the rarest animals in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem—the American pine marten! These quick, elusive, cat-sized members of the weasel family are rarely seen, making this encounter especially memorable.”
Check out a rarely seen American pine marten here:
Header stock image by Cavan Images/Getty Images
