Mustela lutreola

– Endangered

Taxonomy

Kingdom:	ANIMALIA
Phylum:	CHORDATA
Class:	MAMMALIA
Order:	CARNIVORA
Family:	MUSTELIDAE
Scientific Name:	Mustela lutreola
Species Authority:	(Linnaeus, 1761)
Common Name/s:	EUROPEAN MINK (Eng)

Assessment Information

Red List Category & Criteria:

EN A1ace ver 2.3 (1994)

Year Assessed:

1996

Annotations:

Needs updating

Assessor/s:

Mustelid Specialist Group

History:

1988	-	Vulnerable (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1988)
1990	-	Vulnerable (IUCN 1990)
1994	-	Endangered (Groombridge 1994)

Geographic Range

Range Description:

Native to Europe. Before its present decline the European mink occurred in non-Mediterranean France and in adjacent provinces of north western Spain, in northern and eastern Germany, Poland, eastern Austria, Czechoslovakia, eastern Yugoslavia, Hungary, Bulgaria, northern Romania, central and southern Finland and the western parts of what was the USSR.

Countries:

Native:

Belarus; France; Kazakhstan; Romania; Russian Federation; Spain

Regionally extinct:

Austria; Bulgaria; Czech Republic; Estonia; Finland; Georgia; Germany; Hungary; Latvia; Lithuania; Moldova, Republic of; Netherlands; Poland; Slovakia

Uncertain presence and origin:

Greece; Ukraine

Population

Population:	M. lutreola is now extinct or greatly reduced over most of its former range (Schreiber, et al. 1989).
Population Trend:

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology:

Inhabits densely vegetated banks of rivers and streams.

System:

Terrestrial

List of Habitats:

5.1	Wetlands (inland) - Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)

Threats

Threats:

The feral American mink, M. vison, also occurs over many parts of the European mink's range, having escaped from fur farms. Competition and direct aggression with M. vison are the main threats to the European mink population. Overhunting and habitat loss were serious threats to M. lutreola in the past and are still problems in some parts of its current range. In France an additional threat comes from unintentional poisoning and trapping as a result of efforts to control coypu populations in the area. Accidental mortality through vehicle collisions also affect populations in western areas of its range.

List of Threats:

1	Habitat Loss/Degradation (human induced) (ongoing)
2.1	Invasive alien species (directly affecting the species) - Competitors (ongoing)
3	Harvesting (hunting/gathering) (ongoing)
4.1.2.1	Accidental mortality - Bycatch - Terrestrial - Trapping/snaring/netting (ongoing)
4.1.2.3	Accidental mortality - Bycatch - Terrestrial - Poisoning (ongoing)
4.2.2	Accidental mortality - Collision - Vehicle collision (ongoing)

Conservation Actions

Conservation Actions:

Legally protected in all range countries except Russia. At least part of the population occurs within protected areas (Schreiber et al. 1989).

List of Conservation Actions:

1.2.1.2	Policy-based actions - Legislation - Development - National level (in place, needed)
4.4	Habitat and site-based actions - Protected areas (in place, needed)

Bibliography

Bibliography:

Groombridge, B. (ed.) 1994. 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre. 1988. 1988 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN. 1990. 1990 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

Mace, G.M. and Balmford, A. 2000. Patterns and processes in contemporary mammalian extinction. In: A. Entwhistle and N. Dunstone (eds) Priorities for the Conservation of Mammalian Diversity. Has the Panda had its day?, pp. 27-52. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Schreiber, A., Wirth, R., Riffel, M. and Van Rompaey, H. 1989. Weasels, Civets, Mongooses and their Relatives. An Action Plan for the Conservation of Mustelids and Viverrids. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

Small Carnivore Specialist Group. For more information, see the Specialist Group website

Citation:	Mustelid Specialist Group 1996. Mustela lutreola. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 16 May 2008.
Disclaimer:	To make use of this information, please check the Copyright and Data Disclaimer.
Feedback:	If you see any errors or have any questions or suggestions on what is shown on this page, please fill in the feedback form so that we can correct or extend the information provided.