Sobel – Martes zibellina

Sable's original distribution is in the Siberian taiga zone and extends slightly from the west side of the Urals to Hokkaido.

It is not known for certain whether the sable has appeared wild in Finland in historic times. It is likely that historical references may refer to the melanistic martens or even beavers. However, according to the current understanding, there is no unambiguous scientific documentation that sable has appeared in Finland or nearby areas. Abroad, some confusion has been caused by the fact that when the breeding of martens as fur animals was once tested in Finland - albeit with little success -  these farmed martens were called by the brand name 'Finnish sable'.

In Finland, there is three confirmed sightings of sables and one probable. According to their appearance, the confirmed sables are escapees from Russian farms. In 2010s, two sables have been caught in the Lappeenranta region. The first, subsequently confirmed as a farmed sable, was first thought to be a melanistic form of the pine marten. The third confirmed sable was caught in Punkaharju, in December 2019. DNA samples have been obtained from these individuals to confirm the determinations. In addition, there is a fourth, earlier sable sighting in the Lappeenranta region, but the individual in question had been destroyed and could not be verified.

On the Karelian Isthmus, between Vyborg and St. Petersburg, a large sable farm has been operating for decades. The maternal population consists of approximately 9,000 individuals - on top of this, males and annual cubs' yield. The farm has reported that about 1% of animals escape from the farm every year, which makes at least a hundred individuals a year. At least some of them survive in the wild. As a result of repeated escapes from the farm, a wild population may have formed near the Finnish border, but there is no further information on this. It is likely that sightings of the species in Finland are becoming more common.

In addition, a small sable farm has operated in Haukipudas in Finland. The origin of the sables is a Latvian fur farm, where the animals had been brought from Pushkino, near Moscow. In connection with this farm, there has been no reports of escapees over the years.