American mink

Scientific name: Neovison vison

Family: Mustelidae

Appearance: Mink are similar in shape to stoats and polecats but are dark brown all over. They are much smaller than otters.

Body length: 60 cm Tail length: up to half of body length.

Weight: 0.5-1.5 kg

Natural history: Mink hunt on riverbanks and in the water, eating mammals, birds, fish and crustaceans. They live in dens near water. Males are highly territorial.

Mink were introduced to the UK for fur farming. Since then, they have become widely invasive. Mink are a major threat to British water voles, because unlike native predators, they are both small enough and good enough swimmers to enter water voles’ waterside burrows. In mainland Europe, they also threaten the critically-endangered European mink.