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.

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.

Our work

In Spain, the European mink population is estimated to number only around 500 individuals, restricted to the north-east of the country. Vincent Wildlife Trust is collaborating with Madis Podra and Asun Gomez (both with Tragsatec, Spain), Dr Lauren Harrington (WildCRU) and Dr Allan McDevitt (University of Salford) to trial methods to survey and ultimately monitor European mink populations. A pilot study using camera traps, eDNA metabarcoding, hair tubes and live trapping was conducted in Spain in autumn 2019 and the data analysed during 2020. We are hoping to publish the results in the near future.

Romania

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.

VWT is now working in partnership with the Romanian Wilderness Society, Fauna & Flora, 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.

European mink ©Romain Beaubert

The model results will then be ground-truthed by field surveys and refined with field data over the coming year. Field surveys are also designed to detect American mink if they are present at these sites.

We will be 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.

Useful links

• Read about our field research in Spain in our blog post.

Photo: European mink ©Andrew Harrington