Minks
Mink are dark-coloured, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals in the genera Mustela and Neogale and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, stoats, martens, otters, badgers, and others. There are two extant species referred to as "mink", the American mink and the European mink. The extinct sea mink was related to the American mink but was much larger.
The American mink's fur has been highly prized for use in clothing. Their treatment on fur farms has been a focus of animal rights and animal welfare activism. American mink have established feral populations in Europe (including Great Britain and Denmark) and South America. In some cases this happened after the animals were released from mink farms by animal rights activists, in others, mink escaped from captivity by themselves. In the UK, under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it is illegal to release mink into the wild. In some countries, any live mink caught in traps must be humanely killed.
American mink are believed by some to have contributed to the decline of the less hardy European mink through competition (though not through hybridisation; European mink are more closely related to polecats than to North American mink). Trapping is used to control or eliminate introduced American mink populations.
Mink oil is used in some medical products and cosmetics, as well as to treat, preserve, and waterproof leather.
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