Active ProjectsRestoring European Mink to the Romanian Carpathians
Working in partnership
Range contraction since the mid-19th Century
85%
Partners working to save the European mink
4
Estimated number of European mink remaining in the world
<5,000
Critically endangered mammal
The European mink (Mustela lutreola) is critically endangered and one of the most threatened mammals in Europe.
Once widespread across Europe, the European mink population has undergone a severe decline and now occupies less than 20% of its former range. European mink are currently restricted to a handful of isolated populations in northern Spain/southwestern France, the Danube delta in Romania and Ukraine, and parts of Russia. Captive breeding programmes have been established to facilitate ex situ conservation. In Estonia, a small breeding population has been established on Hiiumaa Island and there has been a reintroduction in Saarland, Germany.
In Romania, European mink were historically present in multiple areas across the country but today the only confirmed remaining population is in the Danube Delta in southeastern Romania. This is thought to be the largest in Europe — but as a single isolated population, is highly vulnerable to unpredictable factors such as disease or incursion by American mink.
The main current threat to European mink is competition with the distantly related, but invasive non-native American mink, following decades of sustained habitat loss and over-hunting. The European mink is classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
Partnerships across Europe
Looking into actions to save the endangered European mink
VWT is now working in partnership with the Romanian Wilderness Society, Fauna & Flora International, and the Danube Delta National Institute for Research and Development to look at the feasibility of using conservation translocations to restore populations of European mink to the southern Carpathian Mountains.
We have begun by using remotely-sensed data and knowledge of the species’ ecology to model and assess the functional connectivity of three areas in the southern Carpathians that are being considered for reintroduction. The model outputs show us where European mink are likely to move through the landscape and where this is less likely, based on habitat and potential barriers such as roads and other infrastructure. The model results are being ground-truthed by field surveys and refined with field data. Field surveys are also designed to detect American mink if they are present at these sites.
We are assessing the distribution and abundance of European mink in the Danube Delta using existing data and targeted field surveys by partners. Analyses of these data will enable us to decide whether this population is sufficiently large and robust to sustain the removal of enough animals for conservation translocations to other areas.
The project builds on our previous work on European mink in Spain, where we collaborated with Tragsatec, WildCRU and University of Salford to trial different methods to survey and ultimately monitor the small European mink population in Spain.
Dr Steve Carter
Carnivore Proramme Manager
Get in touch
Working in partnership
Collaborating in Romania
Fauna & Flora
Fauna & Flora's shared purpose is to protect the diversity of life on Earth, for the survival of the planet and its people, working in partnership with local partners in more than 40 countries.
The Romanian Wilderness Society
The society wants to act to promote and implement large-scale wilderness, with landscapes dominated by natural processes, in which protected natural areas are managed in an integrated way.
Danube Delta for National Institute for Research and Development
6. The Danube Delta National Institute carries out research to give scientific grounding for the management of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve (DDBR) and wetlands for biodiversity conservation.
Swedish Postcode Lottery Foundation
The Swedish Postcode Lottery Foundation’s goal is to promote a strong civil society through projects that challenge, inspire and promote change to create a better world.
Further reading
Research
Croose, E., et al. (2023) Mink on the brink: comparing survey methods for detecting a critically endangered carnivore, the European mink Mustela lutreola
No, the European mink does not live in Great Britain and there is no evidence that it ever occurred in Britain, although it looks similar to the invasive non-native American mink, an extremely detrimental species outside of its native range, that was introduced to Europe and is present in Britain.
The European mink is currently listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It has suffered from the combined impacts of historical over-harvesting for its fur, habitat loss and degradation, and from competition from the introduced and invasive, non-native American mink.
Although they look similar, they are different species. They can be told apart by the amount of white on their faces — the European mink has white fur on the top lip, lower lip and chin, but American mink only has white fur on the lower lip and chin. The American mink also has a longer tail, which is longer than half its body length, compared to the European mink’s shorter tail. The European mink is native to most of Europe but the American mink is an invasive species and is threatening many native species, including the European mink.
The European mink was once widespread across Europe but because of human activities it is in danger of extinction. It is also an important indicator of healthy aquatic ecosystems that support an abundance of diverse aquatic life and are free of invasive non-native American mink.
