Safeguarding the Menai rivers endangered Water vole population from the American Mink.
Overview
Afonydd Menai begun an exciting new venture in January 2025. After years of trapping on Anglesey and doing habitat restoration projects to help connect isolated water vole populations on the island, we have expanded to cover 1,500km2 of Northwest Wales.
Our main aim is to safeguard the water voles of Northwest Wales and to continue to allow our special population to thrive. We continue to survey for water voles to identify isolated populations and inform landowners of their presence so they can manage their land appropriately, as well as run public engagement to increase people’s awareness of our fastest declining mammal in the UK.
We have to do more than just know where they are, we need to help them, we need to tackle the things that threaten our water voles. One of the main threats to water voles are the invasive non-native American Mink. This project has expanded its area so that it can tackle American mink on a landscape scale and eliminate the threat they pose to water voles.
American mink are semi aquatic species that were brought over to the UK in the 60s for fur farming. However, many were released and they have since spread across the UK and are now widely distributed. They are incredible hunters and predate on many species, although they are most famously known for the impact they have on water voles.
Water voles have adapted to survive with many native predators, however, female and young American mink are small enough to access water vole burrows and so there is no escape for our furry friends and their young.
Project aim: The aim of this project is to remove American mink using live capture traps. The majority of our stations are positioned on floating rafts which contain a tunnel, within which sits a trap. We aim to have over 100 traps out across our project area which includes the entirety of Ynys Môn and North Gwynedd, with the Conwy river as our Eastern boundary and the tip of the Llyn Peninsula to the West.
We are always looking for new volunteers and landowners to get involved in this project and to help us make it a success. Please get in touch with us if you have an interest in our project.
About
Afonydd Menai begun an exciting new venture in January 2025. After years of trapping on Anglesey and doing habitat restoration projects to help connect isolated water vole populations on the island, we have expanded to cover 1,500km2 of Northwest Wales.
Our main aim is to safeguard the water voles of Northwest Wales and to continue to allow our special population to thrive. We continue to survey for water voles to identify isolated populations and inform landowners of their presence so they can manage their land appropriately, as well as run public engagement to increase people’s awareness of our fastest declining mammal in the UK.
We have to do more than just know where they are, we need to help them, we need to tackle the things that threaten our water voles. One of the main threats to water voles are the invasive non-native American Mink. This project has expanded its area so that it can tackle American mink on a landscape scale and eliminate the threat they pose to water voles.
American mink are semi aquatic species that were brought over to the UK in the 60s for fur farming. However, many were released and they have since spread across the UK and are now widely distributed. They are incredible hunters and predate on many species, although they are most famously known for the impact they have on water voles.
Water voles have adapted to survive with many native predators, however, female and young American mink are small enough to access water vole burrows and so there is no escape for our furry friends and their young.
Project aim: The aim of this project is to remove American mink using live capture traps. The majority of our stations are positioned on floating rafts which contain a tunnel, within which sits a trap. We aim to have over 100 traps out across our project area which includes the entirety of Ynys Môn and North Gwynedd, with the Conwy river as our Eastern boundary and the tip of the Llyn Peninsula to the West.
We are always looking for new volunteers and landowners to get involved in this project and to help us make it a success. Please get in touch with us if you have an interest in our project.
