KENT MINK NUMBERS COULD FALL 90% UNDER NEW WILDLIFE PROJECT

The Waterlife Recovery Trust has received a £20,000 grant from the BASC Wildlife Fund to expand trapping and monitoring of invasive American mink across Kent. The project aims to reduce mink numbers by 90% within two years. Kent once had one of Britain's highest densities of American mink, according to conservationists involved in the scheme.

Conservationists report that mink prey heavily on water voles, which they describe as the UK's fastest-declining mammal. The animals also hunt ground-nesting birds including snipe, lapwing and waterfowl, as well as kingfishers and sand martins. A similar project in east Anglia achieved a 70% year-on-year reduction in mink numbers, leading to the species' complete removal from Norfolk, Suffolk and East Cambridgeshire. The Kent grant funded the purchase of 56 smart traps, rafts and other equipment to cover areas where mink sightings had been reported but trapping infrastructure was absent.

Michelle Nudds, BASC's South East regional director, stated that the support from landowners and volunteers demonstrates backing for the work locally. Ali Horn, WRT's Kent project officer, said the additional equipment would allow the organisation to cover previously under-resourced areas of the county. The project represents an expansion of mink control efforts across south-east England following demonstrated success elsewhere.