Efforts to Eradicate Mink in the UK to Protect Water Voles

The population of water voles in Britain has drastically declined by 97% since the 1970s, primarily due to predation by non-native mink. Bill Amos, a professor of evolutionary genetics at the University of Cambridge, is spearheading a project aimed at eradicating these invasive predators from the UK’s waterways. The initiative, led by the Waterlife Recovery Trust, has been actively laying traps across the East of England since 2020 to combat this issue. Mink, which have no natural predators in the UK, pose a significant threat to local wildlife, including birds as large as herons. Volunteers from the Waterlife Recovery Trust employ a unique trapping method, using an extract from mink anal glands to attract the animals into floating smart traps. Once captured, the mink are humanely euthanized, contributing to a significant reduction in their population. Recent reports indicate that there has been no evidence of mink reproduction in the core area of East Anglia for the past two years. Prof. Amos highlighted the success of the project, noting that a 70-kilometer buffer zone surrounding the core area is also showing promising results, with mink numbers nearly eradicated. With continued funding, the trapping efforts are set to expand further, reaching England's southern coast and extending north to the Humber estuary. This initiative represents a crucial step in the conservation of water voles and the restoration of the UK’s natural ecosystems.