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© Gonzalo Pardo
Neogale vison
Scope of the project
The American mink is an invasive exotic species and one of the main threats to the species that the Patagonia Program works to conserve.
context
The American mink(Neovison/Neogale vison) was brought to Patagonia (Argentina and Chile) for fur production purposes in the middle of the last century. From escapes and releases from these establishments, wild populations were established from where a process of expansion began that still continues in Patagonia.
Its distribution in western continental Patagonia extends from central Neuquén to Los Glaciares National Park in Santa Cruz. To the east, it extends along the Deseado, Senguer, Chubut and Limay rivers. There are also outbreaks in the northwest of Neuquén and at the mouth of the Negro River.
The mink has completely invaded the island of Tierra del Fuego and from there has reached other islands of the Fuegian archipelago.
Their effect on some native species through predation has been very acute.
Invasive alien species
Since 2013, the Patagonia Program has been implementing control programs on this species to safeguard populations of Hooded Grebe, a critically endangered species, and restore breeding environments for the Torrent Duck. While these threat management actions primarily target these species, other prey in the accompanying community benefit from direct actions on mink.
In the three areas where plans are currently underway, these actions are developed in conjunction with National Parks. In all three areas we work with trapping systems that were initially proven effective and selective in the Lake Buenos Aires Plateau area and were later replicated in the other areas.
We also incorporated work on mink control, the use of tracking dogs to detect animals that avoid the traps and to be able to apply localized trapping systems in areas that cannot be incorporated into the general trapping system (either because of their location or because of the time of year).
From these monitoring systems, we obtain data for demographic studies and samples for genetic studies that are then analyzed in order to allow adjustments in the planning of management actions.
Finally, we conducted an experience in the area of the Filo Hua Hum River and Lake (boundary between Nahuel Huapi and Lanín National Parks). There, for 3 years we maintained a reduced trapping system, with the aim of removing mink and reducing predation pressure in these flooded grassland systems where year after year many waterfowl, including many common and royal geese, gather to breed.
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