Returning Ratty to our rivers comes at a price - removal of the American mink
Conservationists are hoping to reintroduce native water voles – but the move comes at a cost.
Before they can bring back the creatures – immortalised as Ratty in Wind in the Willows – they must first eradicate a vicious predator, the American mink.
Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust has applied for a £50,000 grant to fund the three-year project at Rutland Water.
Any mink found in the nearby Gwash, Nene and Welland rivers will be killed before the water vole, once a common sight in English waterways, can be reintroduced.
Wildlife experts will be visiting sites along the river where mink have been spotted and laying traps for them.
They plan to start catching the creatures from late February, the start of the mink mating season.
Tim Appleton, the wildlife expert in charge of Rutland Water, said: "Mink are probably responsible for a 90 to 95 per cent reduction in the native water vole population.
"They are incredibly destructive and they are widespread, so it is going to be a big job and an expensive job to keep rivers clear of them."
When the mink have been eradicated, water voles will be reared and released.
Once established it is hoped the voles will spread out and establish themselves in nearby rivers.
"It is very exciting," said Mr Appleton.
Between 1989 and 1996, vole numbers fell from at least seven million to fewer than 900,000 – a decline blamed on the mink.
Thousands of mink were released from fur farms by animal rights activists in the years before 2000, when the Government banned the UK fur trade.
Today, Environment Agency records show mink thriving across the Midlands, especially in the River Soar in Leicestershire.
Anglian Water, which owns Rutland Water, is prepared to give money towards a water vole reintroduction project, subject to a licence from English Nature.
A spokesman said: "This is a fantastic opportunity to restore a population of a very special mammal."
National organisation Animal Aid, however, argued it was "unjustifiably cruel" to eradicate one species for another.
A spokesman said water voles were in decline 40 years before mink were released because of human activity such as removing and polluting riverside habitats.
A spokesman said: "Mink have found their niche in the British countryside and should be treated with sensitivity and respect."
5 Comments
by Ratty, South Leics
Sunday, January 09 2011, 8:58PM
“Sorry Norman but your argument was the one used that helped prevent swift action to control the non-native American Mink and hence help cause the catastrophic collapse in the native Water Vole population.
Any work by farmers could have put pressure on the Voles, but not exterminated them. They would have survived in heavily farm managed areas albeit maybe in reduced numbers if the farmer had done such devastating bank side work.
If your argument held true then hundreds (thousands?) of miles of river bank in this county alone that have not had any farming impact would hold abundant populations of Voles, they do not.
The common factor in the majority of cases were the Water Vole has become extinct in areas were they had thrived, is the arrival of the non-native American Mink.
You quote experts working in the field of Water Vole conservation supporting your statement, this is a gross distortion of facts. I have worked in conservation for over twenty years and witnessed first hand the devastating impact of Mink on thriving Water Vole populations.
There are many conservation workers who have personal moral dilemmas in agreeing with species control. In my dealings with fellow professionals these are generally the ones who back your argument.
I agree Mink control is not the only issue but if you want Water Voles, it is the prime issue in the majority of areas.
Let us not forget that once the Voles have gone, there follows a general decline in the water fowl and the Kingfishers. I have witnessed the stripping out of fledglings from Kingfisher sites, nearly fully mature cygnets being taken and adult Swans seriously injured, and fish being taken out one after the other with only single bites taken from the prime flesh areas.
It is not the Minks fault, but their natural feeding tactics which differ greatly from the native Otter due amongst other things to the difference in the breeding patterns and the population densities.”
by Karin, Oadby
Friday, January 07 2011, 2:30PM
“Hope the water vole population can be revived. Irrespective of the reason for their demise, Animal Activists were indeed stupid and short sighted to release the mink but even more stupid were the vacant vapid trollops that wore their fur hoping to make themselves look beautiful/expensive and thus creating a market for the farming of mink.”
by Gary, Leicester
Friday, January 07 2011, 12:59PM
“No acceptance of responsibility from Animal Aid I see, whose predesessors irresponsibly released american mink into the environment in the sixties and seventies.”
by Norman Parker, Glenfield
Friday, January 07 2011, 12:20PM
“This is great news as water voles are so threatened. However, it is a pity that some of the facts in this article are not correct. Mink are only part of the problem the destruction of habitat suitable for water voles by modern farming practices (over grazing, clearing river banks, inappropriate dredging of ditches and rivers, etc) is also a major factor. The effect of mink has been greatly over estimated by some in the farming community in order to deflect attention away from the habitat destruction. Those experts that work on water vole conservation will tell you that had mink been the only problem then the water vole population may well have been reduced but would not be facing extinction. They will also tell you that had mink not been released into the countryside the water vole population would have still fallen dramatically. Mink control is important in many areas but it is not the only issue.”
by Norman Parker, Glenfield
Friday, January 07 2011, 11:52AM
“This is great news as water voles are so threatened. However, it is a pity that some of the facts in this article are not correct. Mink are only part of the problem the destruction of habitat suitable for water voles by modern farming practices (over grazing, clearing river banks, inappropriate dredging of ditches and rivers, etc) is also a major factor. The effect of mink has been greatly over estimated by some in the farming community in order to deflect attention away from the habitat destruction. Those experts that work on water vole conservation will tell you that had mink been the only problem then the water vole population may well have been reduced but would not be facing extinction. They will also tell you that had mink not been released into the countryside the water vole population would have still fallen dramatically. Mink control is important in many areas but it is not the only issue.”