European Mink Project

Project Animal(s) : European mink (Mustela lutreola)
Project Category : Mammals
Project Region : Asia, Europe
Project Type : Conservation
Project URL : https://www.wildcru.org/research/european-mink-project/
Project is timebound? : No

The critically endangered European mink Mustela lutreola is the rarest terrestrial carnivore in Europe. Once widely distributed throughout Europe and Russia, the species now persists only in isolated fragments of its former range: in northern Spain, France, the Danube delta in Romania and the Ukraine, and parts of Russia (where it is reported to be scarce). Small reintroduced populations exist on the Estonian Island of Hiiumaa, and in Germany.

Project Agency : Wildlife Conservation Research Unit(WildCRU)

Project Agency Contact : https://www.wildcru.org/

Project Researcher : Dr Lauren Harrington

Project Researcher Contact : https://www.wildcru.org/members/dr-lauren-harrington/

Additional Information :

For an overview of the status of the European mink, the causes of its decline, and the important restoration work that has been undertaken thus far in Spain and in Estonia, see:

Maran, T., Põdra, M., Harrington, L.A., and Macdonald, D.W. (2017) European mink – restoration attempts for a species on the brink of extinction. In: Biology and Conservation of Musteloids, pp. 370-388. Edited by: Macdonald, D.W., Newman, C. and Harrington, L.A. Oxford University Press. (For a pdf copy please contact Lauren Harrington).

For a full list of project publications: https://www.wildcru.org/european-mink-project-literature/