Report from Chris Smith
Minks From Fur Farms Ravage U.K. Wildlife
By Andrew Morgan in the Daily Telegraph (London), 5 th November, 2001
The raw and beautiful landscape of the treeless Hebridean island of North Uist is host to some of the country's most remarkable wildlife. Thousands of people come each year just to see the bird populations.
However, the local economy is now under threat from that vicious invader - the mink. In the Western Isles, it attacks terns and gulls, eating both eggs and chicks. Coot and little grebe are no longer found and there is concern over the loss of corncrake - one of Europe's rarest birds.
Its effects are so devastating that Britain's biggest eradication program, costing 1.65 million pounds (U.S. $2.5 million), is to begin later this month. And not before time, argue the locals: These ruthless killers are spreading. They have been wreaking havoc on the nearby islands of Harris and Lewis since the 1960s, escapees from the islands' fur farms.
Two years ago, mink were found to have swum across the Sound of Harris, island-hopping to North Uist before moving to Benbecula. They may even have reached South Uist.
The problem is not confined to Scotland. The English mink population is rapidly increasing, and will only be exacerbated by the release last week of about 100 mink from a fur farm, previously targeted by animal-rights activists, in the New Forest. In England, mink are responsible for the dramatic decline of several species, particularly water vole. One recent reintroduction of 12 voles at a top-secret wetland site came to grief when a single mink killed them all.
Mink Invasion Impacts Conservation, Tourism
Current estimates show there are 10,000 breeding females in the Western Isles, causing serious problems for several groups, spanning wildlife conservation, farmed and sporting fisheries, crofting and tourism.
A recent study on Harris and Lewis showed that crustaceans such as crabs form a large part of the mink's diet. They also take shallow-water fish such as blennies, gobies and butterfishÑsometimes eels and trout or salmon up to ten inches (25 centimeters) in length.
George Macdonald, a local factor, reports that mink regularly prey on farmed salmon in cages and cause escapes by damaging nets. Wild sea trout and salmon are also taken in rivers and streams. "The potential damage from mink to the environment and tourism is enormous," he says.
There is now an urgent need to eradicate mink from the Uists and drastically reduce numbers in south Harris over the next five years. Brussels is providing half the cash for the Hebridean Mink Project, because so many local areas are protected under E.U. wildlife designations, while several groups have contributed the rest, with Scottish Natural Heritage putting in 443,000 pounds (U.S. $660,000).
Six trappers will work on North Uist and Benbecula, and a further four will trap mink in southern areas of Harris to prevent recolonization of the Uists. Kills should be high because young mink born in the summer are starting to move about. Rabbit and fish are used for bait and the mink are destroyed humanely. The fur is worthless because the animals are wild.
About 2,000 traps have been ordered. Carcasses will be sent for analysis to the York-based Central Science Laboratory, which is coordinating the trapping program and associated research.
"Mink are deadly," says Archie Campbell, a Western Isles councilor. "On the Uists, the balance of wildlife has remained intactÑuntil now. We're keen that mink never get established in these islands."
Minks Can "Kill at Will"
Mink are resourceful survivors, with needle-sharp teeth. They have no predators and so can virtually kill at will. On Lewis, many smallholders no longer keep ducks or chickens.
The Western Isles Mink Control Group has been trapping the animals in the south of Harris since 1992 - but this did not prevent them crossing to the Uists.
Last year, Scottish Natural Heritage commissioned the Central Science Laboratory to assess the problem, and to consider options ranging from doing nothing to eradicating the animal completely in the Western Isles.
This study identified the best option as a phased scheme, which would first eradicate mink from North Uist and Benbecula. The experience gained would then be used to tackle the much bigger problems with mink on Lewis and Harris. And it would provide estimates of the time and costs involved in the removal of minkÑrunning into millions of pounds.
George Campbell, RSPB regional manager, says: "Tackling the mink problem is a huge undertaking, but we have an opportunity to make significant progress."
The Uist Mink Group was set up in 1999 and has carried out trapping with limited funds. Traps were set last winter along the machair and peatland moors to try to contain the invasion, with data collected to predict movements this autumn.
"The exercise is so costly because the mink are trapped before being destroyed and such traps need to be checked regularly so other animals don't stray into them," adds Mr. Campbell.
On the mainland, mink have been known to kill pheasant, woodcock, duck, pigeon, oystercatchers and lapwing. A recent study in Argyll highlighted the devastating effects of mink on wild bird populations. In ten years, terns, gulls and black guillemots have declined by over half and are now totally absent from many areas.
Jeff Watson, northern director of Scottish Natural Heritage, says: "It's in everybody's interests for a solution to be found in the Western Isles and the only permanent one is complete eradication. This is a huge undertaking. To leave behind just one pregnant female mink could, in theory, result in recolonization."
More Information
Minks
Slender, short-legged members of the weasel family, minks make their homes along the edges of lakes and streams. There they can find food and shelter in thickets, in rock crevices, and among tree
roots.
These animalsÑknown for their
thick, shiny furÑlive from Florida
into the Arctic in North America.
Some are found in Europe and
western Asia.
With their partly webbed feet,
minks are good swimmer and
divers. They slip into and out of
water, looking for fish, crayfish,
and frogs to eat. Their prey
includes muskrats, hares, and mice.
Minks also eat insects and water
birds. They may kill more than
they can eat at one time. They
store what is left and return to it
later.
A mink hunts alone, and it seems
to be constantly on the prowl. The
animal marks its territory with a
strong-smelling substance that is
produced in glands under its tail.
These scent marks warn other
minks to hunt somewhere else.
For hundreds of years, people have
trapped minks and used their skins
for clothing. Today the animals are
raised on farms called ranches.
Wild minks usually have coats in a
shade of brown. But a mink raised
on a ranch may have one of many
colors of fur - from pure white to
jet black.
Source: This is an extract from the
National Geographic Book of
Mammals. For more information
about minks and more than 500
other mammals, order this book
from National Geographic..
© Daily Telegraph, 5 th November, 2003
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