American Mink - Neovison vison
Key Findings
- American mink (Neovison vison) are a medium sized member of the mustelid family along with otter, badger, and pine marten. They are semi aquatic carnivores with an elongated body.
- Native Range and Distribution:
Hailing from North America, American mink were introduced to the UK to be used in fur farms. They were first brought over in 1929, and quickly started escaping into the wild. By 1962, mink began breeding wild in Scotland, first occurring in Aberdeenshire. (SISI, n.d. a) Despite the closure of mink farms in 2000, mink had already settled throughout the country (SISI, n.d. a). As of today, mink can be found from the North to the South of the country (fig. 2). - Habitat and Physical Characteristics:
The danger of mink is their effectiveness as predators. They are not fussy eaters, preying on any creature they can hunt – e.g. birds, bird eggs, fish, crabs, frogs, mice, and many more (NatureScot, 2024). They are semi-aquatic mammals, living near to water bodies like rivers, lakes and even coastlines (SISI, n.d. a).
As such, Scotland makes an ideal habitat for the species. Not only is there abundant prey and habitat, but also there are no natural predators of the mink in Scotland (Toth, 2023). In America, mink populations are controlled by bobcats and coyotes, among other creatures, so without these larger predators the populations remains unchecked in the UK (Cubie, 2004). - Management:
Mink control projects are in full swing across much of Scotland, the first of which took place in 2004, along the River Ythan in Aberdeenshire (SISI, n.d. a). This project was found to have had a significantly positive effect on the local water vole population, and thus the technique has been adopted nationwide. In the last 18 years, 1600 mink have been caught and disposed of as a result of these projects (SISI, n.d. a).
Trapping involves placing mink rafts – a small, floating mink sized tunnel - in areas where mink are thought to occur. If the mink raft records mink footprints, it will be replaced with a live trap which is checked regularly. Should a mink be caught, it will be put down humanely (SISI, n.d. b). Fig. 3 shows the locations of current rafts and traps set up by the Mink Control Project, while fig. 4 shows where traps are most successful – catching more than 5 mink each (SISI, n.d. b).
Harrington (2019) found that despite ongoing mink control efforts, data is currently too limited to say for certain whether mink numbers are declining in the UK. However, the SISI (n.d. a) predicts that abundance will have fallen to less than 10% of what it is today after 10 years of continued control measures.
fig. 1: Scottish Islands Explorer (2018) - An American Mink
fig. 2: NBN Atlas (2024) - Records of American Mink (1800 - 2024)
fig. 3: SISI (n.d. b) - Distribution of Mink Raft and Traps across Scotland (2018-2019)
Notes
Linked Information Sheets
Key sources of Information
Aebischer, Davey & Kingdon (2011) American Mink Neovison vison
Cubie (2004) Messages From Mink
Harrington (2019) Current status of American mink in Great Britain
NatureScot (2024) American Mink
NBN Atlas (2024) Neovison vison Distribution Map
Scottish Islands Explorer (2018) American Mink Info
SISI (n.d. b) Mink Control Project
Toth (2023) Fight against invasive American mink threatening Scotland's wildlife
The Wildlife Trusts (2018) New report points to 30% decline in water vole distribution
Reviewed on/by
Status
Live. Next update due 22/11/24
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E-mail: ian.hay@stateofthecoast.scot
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