The Norfolk Mink Project

Waterlife Recovery East - Mink Eradication Project

The Countryman’s Weekly is carrying my article featuring Stephen Mace the Lead Project Office for the Mink Eradication project.

Below is the video that we have made and there will be an update on the project’s progress in these pages within the next few days. If you are able to help our indigenous water vole through this vital and valuable conservation project, please either contact myself or Stephen at macey@stephenmace.co.uk .

Water is a significant feature within the county of Norfolk, The Broads National Park - Britains largest protected wetland is rich in biodiversity and a haven for wildlife, the 90 miles of wave lapped coastline (93 at low tide), are immensely popular attracting vast numbers of visitors throughout the year. Within the landscape many picturesque streams drain the county, where gravity gently moves the slowly flowing water through meadows and cattle grazed marshes, slipping beside bankside willows to the North Sea.

Norfolk has several chalk streams and two of these, the Wensum and Nar, are Sites of Special Scientific Interest, designated areas of European and International biodiversity importance, where the conservation strategy is directed at halting biodiversity decline and designed to increase the health of the existing riparian ecosystem.

Eradication of invasive non-native species is a high priority in conservation management being deployed throughout Norfolk by a large collective of organisations including Norfolk Rivers Trust, Norfolk Rivers Internal Drainage Board, Wildlife Trusts, Norfolk County Council and the Broads Authority, amongst others. The invasive non-natives include Floating Pennywort, Himalayan Balsam, Parrot Feather, New Zealand Pygmy Weed, the North American Signal Crayfish and the American Mink. The latter colonising from mink farm escapees and animals released by animal rights activists. All of these species have a hugely damaging effect on native wildlife way beyond just Norfolk’s boundaries, but it is the American Mink which causes the most critical damage, predating a great many of our  native species, throughout the length and breadth of Britain.

The non-native American Mink (Neovison vison) is a semi-aquatic carnivorous mustelid, introduced during the 1920s for the establishment of mink fur farms; fur production reached a peak of around 400 farms during the 1950s. Wild populations, from escapees or intentional release, were identified later in the decade and by the late 1960s mink were present throughout England’s lowland counties and southern Scotland. Fur farming was banned by a Prohibition Act in 2000. 

Mink are an opportunistic hunter with a voracious appetite devastating species within the riverain ecology and beyond, their diet includes crayfish, kingfishers, moorhens, coots, wagtails, grebes, reed buntings, lapwing, pheasant & partridge chicks, terns, ground nesting waders, sand martins, small mammals and birds eggs. Many of these are on the Red and Amber list of British species of conservation concern. The 96% decline in the native Water Vole population is largely attributable to Mink predation. Widely publicised fund raising by various wildlife charities to facilitate water vole reintroduction programmes  are laudable, but the reality is a false dawn and a wasted financial resource if mink are present in the specific release locality.  A single mink will consume around 500 prey species in a year.

Into it’s second year, the project is making significant progress.

Do subscribe to my newsletters for news and updates on this vital conservation project.