Reintroduction of the European mink Mustela lutreola in Saarland, Germany. Preliminary data on the use of space and activity as revealed by radio-tracking and live-trapping

Abstract

As an attempt to help conserve the endangered European mink Mustela lutreola (Linnaeus, 1761), a reintroduction program was started in a nature reserve in Saarland, Germany; the present study is part of this ongoing reintroduction project. Within the first 2 yr period, 48 (16 m, 32 f) founder animals were reintroduced, out of a total of about 75 animals intended for release in the course of the 3 yr project. Prior to reintroduction, the animals were acclimatized using soft-release pens where they were preconditioned with natural prey . A number of individuals (n = 18) were set free in groups of mating partners (ffm, fm) and in mother-offspring groups. Thirty-three European mink (14 m, 19 f) were fitted with intraperitonial transmitters and radio-tracked and surveyed via live-trapping. Animals were monitored from April 2006 to May 2008 to determine the distribution, size and temporal changes in home range. Released animals showed linear home ranges spreading along rivers and brooks. Home range sizes were 7.2 km (88 ha) for 1 adult male, 0.2-5.9 km (1-505 ha) for adult females, around 1.7-5.6 km (17-132 ha) for juvenile males and 9.2 km (778 ha) for 1 juvenile female, respectively. The released adults showed inter-, but only few intra-, sexual home range overlaps. In contrast, juveniles did not show any home range overlaps. In winter, home range size decreased to a minimum of about 1 km. Further, home range size for females decreased around parturition but increased successively at time of weaning. The activity pattern of released animals was highest at night (especially around dusk and dawn).

Post-release survival of orphaned wild-born polecats Mustela putorius reared in captivity at a wildlife rehabilitation centre in England

“…Of the 32 radio-tracked polecats, 81% were alive after 14 d, and a minimum of 50% were still alive after 1 mo. This compares favourably with the survival of captive-bred European mink Mustela lutreola released in Germany as part of a reintroduction programme, in which a minimum of 60% and 48% were confirmed alive after 14 d and 1 mo, respectively (Peters et al 2009). In that study, 42% of captive-bred mink fitted with intra-peritoneal transmitters died (1 to 86 d following release).…”

“…Wolf et al 1996, Moorhouse 2004, Mathews et al 2005, Maran et al 2009, Peters et al 2009, Pinter-Wollman et al 2009). These include the reintroduction of captiveborn animals and/or the translocation of wild-caught animals.…”

Dynamic habitat suitability and connectivity analyses to inform management of an invasive species and conservation of its native competitor

“…This 70ha threshold is the estimated minimum area required for populations' long-term survival, reproduction, and proliferation, and was calculated as the longitudinal home range (7 km) multiplied by the pixel width (100 m). We veri ed that previous studies obtained similar home ranges Zabala et al 2007;Fournier et al 2008;Harrington and Macdonald 2008;Peters et al 2009;Zschille et al 2012;Palomares et al 2017;Halbrook and Petach 2018). Lastly, we used the area of these habitat patches to estimate species abundance assuming a proportional relationship to patch size (Drake et al 2021).…”

Post-release movements of captive-born European mink Mustela lutreola

“…The areas used by some of the released mink were considerably greater than the home ranges of wild European mink in Belarus (ca.100−700 ha, also estimated using concave polygons; Sido ro vich 2011) or of home range sizes reported for reintroduced mink in Germany (ca.1−500 ha, calculated using kernel density estimates; Peters et al 2009) over a longer period (up to 300 d). Released European mink ate a wide variety of atypical prey in the first 10 d post-release (Põ-dra et al 2013a), thus, the large areas used initially may be due to searching for prey over a variety of habitats.…”