Mink on the brink: comparing survey methods for detecting a critically endangered carnivore, the European mink Mustela lutreola

Abstract

Monitoring rare and elusive species is critical in guiding appropriate conservation management measures. Mammalian carnivores are challenging to monitor directly, due to their generally nocturnal and solitary lifestyle, and relatively large home ranges. The European mink Mustela lutreola is a critically endangered, small, semi-aquatic carnivore and is one of the most threatened mammal species in Europe. In northern Spain, the European mink population is monitored regionally using different methods and approaches, making assessment of national population status difficult. There is an urgent need to 1) assess the efficacy of survey methods and 2) identify a standard monitoring methodology that can be deployed rapidly and inexpensively over large areas of the mink’s range. We deployed four methods—camera trapping, hair tubes, live trapping, and environmental DNA (eDNA) from water samples—to compare the probability of detecting European mink when present at 25 sampling sites within five 10 × 10 km2, and the economic cost and time required for each method. All four methods successfully detected European mink but the probability of detection varied by method. Camera trapping and hair tubes had the highest probability of detection; however, eDNA and live trapping detected mink in one 10 × 10 km2 where the latter two methods did not. For future European mink monitoring programs, we recommend a combination of at least two methods and suggest that camera traps or hair tubes are combined with live trapping or eDNA (depending on the scale and aims of the study), to gather critical information on distribution, occupancy and conservation status.