Monitoring minks at Barking Riverside

Water Vole Update: London Wildlife Trust and Barking Riverside Ltd are working towards keeping the Barking Riverside water voles safe in the numerous ditches and creeks on site by initiating a mink monitoring programme.

Water voles are a protected species in the UK due to their rapid decline in population over the last few decades. Habitat destruction and the american mink are the main culprits of their demise in this country. The american mink in particular has been a major predator of the water vole, as the female mink are small enough to squeeze into the water voles' burrows, from where there is no escape for the water voles!

Mink monitoring is one way to reduce this decline in local areas. By setting up mink rafts in the watercourses, we can regularly check for the presence of mink in the Barking Riverside creek and ditch system. Mink believe these rafts to be burrows, and if they come across a raft they will walk through the tunnel to investigate. While wandering through the raft tunnel, they will walk over a basket of wet clay leaving their distinctive paw prints embedded in the clay. Through regular monitoring, we will find out whether mink are present in the watercourse. By this early detection, we will have a head start in controlling the mink and saving our local water vole population.

Luckily we have not had any signs of mink so far, so our water voles are safe and sound at Barking Riverside!