European Mink and MesseTurm

European Mink : Critically Endangered  

MesseTurm : 257m, Frankfurt am Main, Germany  

 

 

 

European Mink and MesseTurm_102x65cm_watercolor on paper_2018

 

 

The small and cute European mink with blackish-brown fur with a distinctive small band of white far around its lips is one of Europe’s most endangered mammals. The species once inhabited nearly all of Europe. In the mid-19th century onwards, the population of the European mink declined more than 85%, and the species died out in Austria, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Today, the European mink is found in northern Spain, western France, the Danube Delta in Romania, Ukraine, and Russia. Loss of habitats, destruction of ecosystems, commercial poaching for furs, and widespread introduction of the American mink, an alien species, are largely responsible for the decline of the European mink. The populations of the European mink in Spain and France have very low genetic variability and are suffering from inbreeding. Over the past ten years, the population of the European mink declined more than 50%, and the population is forecast to plummet more than 80% over the next ten years.