The possible impact of escaped captive American mink (Neogale vison) on the population of feral mink in Denmark.

The Danish feral mink (Neogale vison) population can be divided into wild-born and captive-born mink newly escaped from a farm. The impact of the captive-born mink on the population of feral population is unknown. Captive-born mink has lately been estimated to make up 25-30% of the feral mink popula...

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Main Authors: Tobias Astell Andersen, René Worup Rørbæk, Cino Pertoldi, Sussie Pagh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2023-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0292609&type=printable
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author Tobias Astell Andersen
René Worup Rørbæk
Cino Pertoldi
Sussie Pagh
author_facet Tobias Astell Andersen
René Worup Rørbæk
Cino Pertoldi
Sussie Pagh
author_sort Tobias Astell Andersen
collection DOAJ
description The Danish feral mink (Neogale vison) population can be divided into wild-born and captive-born mink newly escaped from a farm. The impact of the captive-born mink on the population of feral population is unknown. Captive-born mink has lately been estimated to make up 25-30% of the feral mink population. In December 2020 Danish mink farms were decommissioned until January 2023. The aim of this study was to: 1) Examine whether a supplementation of farmed mink into the feral mink population influence the population growth and extinction rate of the feral mink, 2) Investigate which parameters affect the viability in feral mink populations the most. The age and mortality of 351 mink and the reproduction of 85 adult females culled by hunters from 2019-2022 were determined in three distinct geographic areas of Denmark (Jutland, Zealand, and Bornholm). VORTEX simulations were used to model the population viability and to simulate the impact of a supplementation of captive-born mink into the wild population. Simulations show that changes by 30% in the parameters: fecundity, percentages of breeding females and mortality influenced population size influenced the final population size significantly. The initial population size and inbreeding did not affect the population growth significantly. The simulations showed that the mink population in the regions of Jutland and Zealand could go extinct within 15 to 30 years without any supplementation of captive-born mink to the feral population. The population on Bornholm will however remain stable with current levels of mortality and reproduction even without supplementation of captive mink.
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spelling doaj.art-12718b72a57349da900a8e35060e776b2023-12-13T05:32:21ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-011811e029260910.1371/journal.pone.0292609The possible impact of escaped captive American mink (Neogale vison) on the population of feral mink in Denmark.Tobias Astell AndersenRené Worup RørbækCino PertoldiSussie PaghThe Danish feral mink (Neogale vison) population can be divided into wild-born and captive-born mink newly escaped from a farm. The impact of the captive-born mink on the population of feral population is unknown. Captive-born mink has lately been estimated to make up 25-30% of the feral mink population. In December 2020 Danish mink farms were decommissioned until January 2023. The aim of this study was to: 1) Examine whether a supplementation of farmed mink into the feral mink population influence the population growth and extinction rate of the feral mink, 2) Investigate which parameters affect the viability in feral mink populations the most. The age and mortality of 351 mink and the reproduction of 85 adult females culled by hunters from 2019-2022 were determined in three distinct geographic areas of Denmark (Jutland, Zealand, and Bornholm). VORTEX simulations were used to model the population viability and to simulate the impact of a supplementation of captive-born mink into the wild population. Simulations show that changes by 30% in the parameters: fecundity, percentages of breeding females and mortality influenced population size influenced the final population size significantly. The initial population size and inbreeding did not affect the population growth significantly. The simulations showed that the mink population in the regions of Jutland and Zealand could go extinct within 15 to 30 years without any supplementation of captive-born mink to the feral population. The population on Bornholm will however remain stable with current levels of mortality and reproduction even without supplementation of captive mink.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0292609&type=printable
spellingShingle Tobias Astell Andersen
René Worup Rørbæk
Cino Pertoldi
Sussie Pagh
The possible impact of escaped captive American mink (Neogale vison) on the population of feral mink in Denmark.
PLoS ONE
title The possible impact of escaped captive American mink (Neogale vison) on the population of feral mink in Denmark.
title_full The possible impact of escaped captive American mink (Neogale vison) on the population of feral mink in Denmark.
title_fullStr The possible impact of escaped captive American mink (Neogale vison) on the population of feral mink in Denmark.
title_full_unstemmed The possible impact of escaped captive American mink (Neogale vison) on the population of feral mink in Denmark.
title_short The possible impact of escaped captive American mink (Neogale vison) on the population of feral mink in Denmark.
title_sort possible impact of escaped captive american mink neogale vison on the population of feral mink in denmark
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0292609&type=printable
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