IT’S official – the invasive American mink has been driven from the Outer Hebrides after almost 20 years.
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) made the announcement today, saying bird species are now “flocking back” to the islands following a 17-year EU-funded programme to eradicate the non-native predator.
SNH chair Mike Cantlay said “one of the remotest, wildest landscapes anywhere in Scotland” is now benefiting.
At the project’s peak, 12 SNH staff worked as teams of trappers to remove mink in an area covering twice the size of Fife.
The mink, which prey on ground-nesting birds and fish, had grown to a population density “rarely reached” in North America as a result of the abundance of food and suitable habitat.
The animal’s introduction was connected to 1950s fur farming on Lewis, with animals escaping from the facilities before their closure in the 1960s. Despite control efforts by sporting estates and SNH, breeding groups had been established on North Uist and Benbecula by 1999 and almost 2200 of the animals have been caught to date.
Captures dwindled in the past 18 months to just two non-breeding females and associated males on Lewis and Harris. One trapper remains there for “biosecurity and monitoring purposes”, with another in the Uists.
Numbers of terns, waders, divers and ducks are now said to on the rise, with Murray Macleod of wildlife tourism firm SeaTrek calling it “an incredible boost” to business. He said: “We have changed our tourist routes this year because in places where there used to be no bird populations to view, now we are seeing colonies of terns with chicks.”
Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said she was “delighted” with the results.
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