The European Mink Association, with the support of the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, has developed an initiative to improve the conservation of the European mink in situ through the more effective control of the American mink. As a result of the project, a protocol has been developed that includes guidelines for the monitoring of both species and for the eradication of the American mink.

To this end, the association contrasted the effectiveness of various detection and capture techniques of the American and European mink to evaluate their effectiveness and design an improved protocol for the monitoring of both species, in addition to contributing to achieving the eradication of the American mink.

The entity’s technicians carried out the trapping work on the Tirón River and the Najerilla River, in the province of La Rioja. The captured European mink were taken to a clinic for veterinary check-up and were subsequently microchipped.

In addition, 20 American minks were captured within the framework of the project, of which 18 were captured in the Najerilla River and two in the Tirón. Regarding the European mink, seven individuals were captured in the Tirón River and none in the Najerilla River, which has shown that the situation of this species is not good in the area, where until two years ago there were specimens of European mink. The American mink is more abundant and maintains a stable nucleus in the Tirón river basin.

In relation to the different trapping methods used, the project has shown that floating platforms increase the effectiveness of catching American mink compared to shore catches, which determines that the platforms are considered useful for the eradication of specimens of the species.

As for photo trapping, it is confirmed that it is a technique that allows the species to be identified and detected in both cases, although its capture rate is lower than that of floating platforms. Thus, the project has confirmed that the combined use of photo trapping and platforms is effective in detecting and identifying specimens of both species.