A potential threat to the Pampas Biome: the introduction of American mink, Neovison vison (Schreber, 1777) in Uruguay

ABSTRACT

The American mink (Neovison vison) has been introduced for fur farming into several countries around the world. In southern South America, although invasive populations have established in Argentina and Chile, no feral minks have been recorded in the Pampas Biome to date. We report a potentially new biological invasion in Uruguay, presenting observations, pictures and a museum specimen of feral minks in the locality Melilla, Montevideo Department, which probably escaped or were released from a local fur farm. We obtained 35 mink records between 2010 and 2020, mostly close to the fur farm, within a 2.5 km radius. Our report provides the northernmost mink records in South America, being the first in the Pampas Biome. American mink is a feared invader in most of the sites where it has been introduced, and therefore these new records are important mainly to plan and apply management interventions.

Resumen

El visón norteamericano (Neovison vison) ha sido introducido en múltiples países por la industria peletera. Esta especie está invadiendo el sur de Chile y Argentina, pero no ha sido aún registrada en el Bioma Pampa. Aquí reportamos una serie de registros ocasionales de visones ferales en la localidad de Melilla, Departamento de Montevideo, Uruguay. Probablemente los propágulos provengan de fugas, o liberaciones, de una granja peletera que allí funciona. Reportamos 35 registros de visones, entre 2010 y 2020, ubicados mayormente en un radio de 2.5 km de dicha granja. Estos serían los registros más al norte en Sudamérica, además de los primeros en el Bioma Pampa. Considerando su alto potencial invasor y sus efectos negativos, se recomienda evaluar rápidamente el estado de esta población y tomar medidas de manejo.

KEYWORDS:

• Invasive mammal
• management
• propagule
• fur farming
• pampas

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• mamífero invasor
• manejo
• propágulo
• granja peletera
• pampas

Acknowledgments

The authors especially thank Constanza Silva, Valerie Romano and neighbors for gathering location information and photographs from mink escapes in the last years. GL thanks the National System of Researchers (Sistema Nacional de Investigadores) and the Basic Sciences Development Program, Uruguay. NG is grateful for the Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación postgraduate scholarship.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).