American Mink control for Water Vole Recovery on the Pang

As a designated priority species under the Berkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy and an ecological keystone, water voles drive nature recovery and biodiversity improvements by increasing diversity of vegetation structure, creating burrows that serve as habitat for reptiles and amphibians, and being a major food source for native predators. American mink have driven a drastic decline in water vole populations, reducing their national range by 95% since 1900, as well as having a detrimental effect on numerous native birds including kingfishers.

Data from our local records centre show that water vole were present on the Pang from the 1960s when surveying began to as recently as 2015, and covered much of its length in the 2000s. Further surveying over the last 10 years has shown consistent water vole absence until summer 2025 when likely water vole signs were surveyed at a site near the confluence of the Pang in, suggesting that water voles can establish from adjacent populations on the Thames. Surveying to date indicates good habitat suitability for water voles. There have been periodic American mink sightings and signs on the 6 local rafts currently deployed, but for comprehensive American mink control to enable water vole recovery a much higher density of a trap per 1-1.5 km of main channel is recommended.

Our approach has been modelled off of existing successful water vole recovery projects, learning from the South Downs National Landscape mink control and water vole reintroduction, updating methods based on best practice to align with our local wildlife trust BBOWT Water Vole Recovery Project and the Water Life Recovery Trust’s national American mink eradication programme. Water vole surveying and recovery both depend on mink trapping to enable natural establishment of water voles or releases to restore populations.