Mink problem plagues Western Isles
From BBC Scotland News, 19 July, 2001
The mink has been running amok in the Western Isles
The £1.65m programme aims to eradicate the animal because of the threat it poses to other island wildlife.
Despite being alien to Britain, mink have been wild in Lewis and Harris since the 1960s and have spread to the Uists in more recent times.
It is believed they were brought from America to be bred for the fur trade but were released or escaped from mink farms which were no longer commercially viable.
There are an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 adult mink in the Western Isles causing problems for native wildlife.
Threat to birds
The announcement, on Thursday, follows confirmation that the European Commission Life Nature Fund has accepted a bid from Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) for half the total cost of the project.
The rest of the cash is being provided by SNH, the Scottish Executive, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Western Isles Council and Western Isles Enterprise.
SNH said that internationally important bird populations are under particular threat from mink.
David Maclennan, SNH area manager in the Western Isles, said: "The mink situation is very much a shared problem, spanning wildlife conservation, crofting, fisheries and even tourism.
"It is therefore in all our interests to find a solution.
© BBC News, 19 th July 2001
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