Fewer than 100 European mink survive in Ukraine. One of the most endangered mammals in Europe, the European mink's range has been reduced by over 85% since the mid-19th century. The remaining population is small, fragmented, and declining, but Ukraine's Carpathian National Nature Park contains up to 20 breeding pairs.

Common Name:

European Mink

Scientific Name:

Mustela lutreola

IUCN Red List Status:

Critically Endangered

Threats:

Habitat loss, illegal hunting, and the invasive American mink species

Weight: 

550 to 800 grams (1.21 to 1.76 lb)

Size:

31.5 cm (12.4 in)long for females, 38 cm (15 in) long for males

Habitats:

Forested habitats, where it thrives in densely shaded banks of fresh water creeks, rivers, and lakes

Continent:

Asia

GC Sites:

Carpathian National Park, Ukraine

Partners:

Carpathian National Nature Park Authority

European Mink Global Population Size Over Time by Year and Estimated Population:

1997 — 41,000

2018 — <5,000

European mink are small, semi-aquatic mammals. They are carnivorous, eating mostly frogs, salamanders, fish, crayfish, muskrats, mice, and voles, along with aquatic birds and their eggs. Occasionally, they will also hunt terrestrial animals like hares and rabbits, and are capable of taking down prey much larger than themselves.

The European mink is one of the most endangered mammals in Europe, listed as Endangered in the National Red Book of Ukraine and Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Its range has been reduced by over 97% since the mid-19th century. The remaining population is small, fragmented, and declining, with the most viable western European population located in the Danube Delta.

Everywhere else, the populations of European mink are vanishing or becoming increasingly fragmented and localized. With only a few scattered upland habitats remaining for its survival, protection of its habitats – primarily upland creeks with pure water and fish stocks – is paramount.

Did you know? The mink's coat is coated in oil to repel water.

Habitat, distribution and status

The historic range of the European mink extended from Finland to east of the Ural Mountains, and south to to northern Spain and the Caucasus Mountains. Over the last 150 years, scientists have reported a severe decline in its populations and its extirpation or reduction within most of its former range. The current range consists of a few isolated fragments: in northern Spain and western France, in the Danube delta in Romania, in Ukraine, and in Russia. In Estonia, the last wild individual was found in 1996.

In Romania, the presence of the European mink in the Danube Delta is thought to be around 1,000 to 1,500 individuals. There is also a population of European mink in the Carpathians. Currently, the species is being monitored in the Carpathian National Nature Park, but there is an urgent need for funding to restore its populations. In France, the status of the European mink is unknown, and it may already be nationally extinct. In Belarus, the species is considered to be extinct. The European mink was recently re-discovered on the Ukarainian side of the Danube Delta and in the Dniester Deltas.

Did you know? European minks are more closely related to polecats (a type of skunk) than to American minks.

Threats and Habitat Loss

The European mink is currently listed by the IUCN as Critically Endangered due to the constant reduction in their populations. In the last ten years, there has been a loss of over half the population, an issue that is predicted to intensify in the next ten years. This may result in a decline rate exceeding 80% due to habitat degradation and loss and the effects of introduced species, such as the American mink (Neovison vison).

The main threats to the European Mink are habitat loss and degradation, overexploitation, illegal hunting, and impact of invasive species. In Europe, human activities have resulted in large-scale alteration of landscapes, environmental change, and disturbance which has had a substantial impact on its habitat.

This species is legally protected in all of the areas it inhabits, except Russia. National and regional authorities need to increase attention and allocate sufficient and continued resources for European mink conservation to prevent this species from disappearing.

There are several records of local extinction of the European mink that are associated with the rapid expansion of the American mink, for example in Estonia, the Tver Region in Russia, and in the Basque country in Spain. The former range of European Mink included a number of large nature reserves where habitat alteration and hunting were minimal or absent.

The impact of the American mink on local European mink populations needs to be monitored and controlled, and whenever possible and feasible the alien mink populations should be removed. Further studies are needed about the current status of the European Mink in Romania, Ukraine and in the eastern part of Europe.

Did you know? American mink were introduced to Europe through the fur industry. They escaped or were released from fur farms and quickly became invasive, displacing the less aggressive native European mink and other native species.

Conservation Action

We are supporting the Carpathian National Nature Park with the following objectives:

• To improve and strengthen the collaboration between different ongoing conservation activities.

• To monitor and control the invasive mink populations that are currently threatening the European mink species.

• To establish large-scale coordinated efforts to secure the survival of the last small remaining populations in different areas inside of their historical range.

Monitoring Results

The project team is conducting a scientific survey to determine population status, habitat assessment, distribution, and abundance of European mink in the Carpathian region. Fifteen camera traps were installed in the project area.

After intensive studies in 2020-2021, our partners have determined that the mink occurs at the top of the Prut and Black Cheremosh basins as well as tributaries of the Prut basin (Stavivsky, Kamyanka, Pigy streams). The population in the Prut is limited to 3-5 pairs, the upper reaches of the Black Cheremosh to 1-3 pairs, and other streams 7-9 pairs. A total of up to 20 pairs (40 individuals) is estimated in the study area.

The team also discovered that, fortunately, the American mink has not reached CNNP and is therefore not a threat in this area.