David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 526: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the impact wild mink are having; the estimated number of wild mink in each region here; the action his Department is taking with reference to wild mink; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27532/07]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Mink found in the wild in Ireland are descended from animals that escaped from fur farms. They have been breeding in the wild since the 1950s and are now found throughout the country. As wild mink are not protected under the Wildlife Acts 1976 and 2000 my Department has no function in relation to them, and therefore there are no population figures available to me. My Department carries out trapping of mink to protect particular bird colonies. As mink is not a protected species they can also be trapped freely by landowners and their agents.

A major scientific study, which was carried out over three years, 1983 to 1986, into the biology of the feral mink and its impact and control issues in Ireland, concluded that mink populations naturally stabilise. While recommending trapping in specific locations where they are causing a problem, e.g. to game birds or to island and colony nesting birds, the study concluded that it is difficult substantially to reduce mink populations over larger areas. It advised that attempting to do so could even exacerbate the problem by creating a vacuum to be filled by young colonisers, which would be liable to cause more problems than a well-established, stabilised population. In most situations the scientific advice is that it is best to leave mink to stabilise naturally.