1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:10,559 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam Here. It's possible you've 3 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: heard of a mink, and it's also possible that the 4 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: thing that pops into your head when you hear that 5 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:19,639 Speaker 1: word is a fur coat. But of course, a natural 6 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: fur coat is made of animal skins. In the parlance 7 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:26,720 Speaker 1: of our times, a mink is a coat, and astronomically 8 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: expensive one at that, made of the pelts of a 9 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:32,599 Speaker 1: type of weasel, also called a mink, which is captured 10 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:35,840 Speaker 1: or raised in captivity for the purpose of providing rich 11 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: people with cozy outerwear. But what makes mink for such 12 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: a desirable material for glamorous jackets, and why we've been 13 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: trapping and wearing minks since at least the eleventh century, 14 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:51,600 Speaker 1: is also what helps a mink survive in the wild. 15 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,320 Speaker 1: A two species of mink exists on the planet Earth today. 16 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: The third, the c mink, is now extinct due to 17 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:01,640 Speaker 1: a couple of centuries of per secution by fur trappers. 18 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 1: Both surviving species have thick, soft water repellent fur, and 19 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 1: as did the extinct mink. Both the American mink and 20 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 1: the critically endangered European mink are semi aquatic, meaning they 21 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:19,679 Speaker 1: stick close to waterways, streams, rivers, wetlands, lakes, etcetera, where 22 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:21,839 Speaker 1: they can find all the foods they like to eat 23 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:26,840 Speaker 1: best frogs, birds, clams, eggs, aquatic insects, and small animals 24 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: like rabbits and mice. They love slinking around rocky river 25 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: banks in the early morning and evening and during the 26 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 1: heat of the day, repairing to their luxurious, multi chambered 27 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: burrows lined with grass, fur, and feathers. They're extremely tricky 28 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:45,119 Speaker 1: to trap because they're smart and suspicious. But we humans are, 29 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 1: if nothing else great devising ingenious ways of killing stuff, 30 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 1: so we've managed to put mink in a precarious position. 31 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:56,440 Speaker 1: The American mink is doing pretty well in the wild. 32 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:58,640 Speaker 1: They can be found in parts of every state in 33 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:01,919 Speaker 1: the United States except air Zona, and aren't uncommon throughout 34 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 1: their natural range. In fact, they're also not uncommon in 35 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: other places in the world, including the traditional range of 36 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: the European mink, which is native to Europe and Eurasia. 37 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:15,960 Speaker 1: American mink were brought to Europe in the early twentieth 38 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: century in order to satisfy the European passion for fur garments, 39 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:23,520 Speaker 1: and by the nineteen fifties at least four hundred registered 40 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: mink for farms existed in the UK Loane, all stocked 41 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:30,600 Speaker 1: with American mink, the species of choice for the fur industry, 42 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,919 Speaker 1: since they're larger bodied than the European species and their 43 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:38,840 Speaker 1: coats are a bit longer and denser. But it's perhaps 44 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,639 Speaker 1: predictably difficult to hold a weasel captive. And the American 45 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: mink that had spent a few generations on European farms 46 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:51,320 Speaker 1: escaped and became naturalized citizens of Europe, and it turns 47 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 1: out they were very aggressive towards the locals. A feral 48 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,639 Speaker 1: farm raised mink and their offspring began killing European mink 49 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: and their kits before the article. This episode is based 50 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: on how Stuff Work. Spoke with Dr Innigo Zubero Gortia, 51 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 1: a researcher in the Department of Environmental Studies at ICARUS 52 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: in Laurino, Spain. He said it is important to consider 53 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 1: the feral American mink is not the same as native 54 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 1: American mink in North America. A feral American mink is 55 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:23,560 Speaker 1: like a new species created by humans after decades of 56 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: breeding in captivity. They do not behave in the same 57 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: way as wild American mink in their native range. An 58 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 1: example of altered behavior in feral American mink in Europe 59 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:38,320 Speaker 1: has to do with territory. Wild male animals of both 60 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: species are normally very territorial and don't put up with 61 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: other males sharing their area. Feral American mink, on the 62 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 1: other hand, don't seem to mind sharing space with each other. 63 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: Zabarro Gortia said. In this way, in rivers where it 64 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 1: was once possible to find one European mink male in 65 00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 1: between three and four females, you can now find as 66 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:03,760 Speaker 1: many thirty American mink. The predation pressure in the area 67 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: is extremely strong. As a result of this ecological debacle, 68 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:12,640 Speaker 1: the European mink is one of the most endangered animals 69 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 1: in Europe. The population has plummeted by over fifty in 70 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:19,600 Speaker 1: the past decade, and although competition from the American mink 71 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: certainly isn't helping matters, European mink are also hunted by 72 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:26,360 Speaker 1: humans and have long been the victims of human driven 73 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 1: habitat loss. Activists and researchers are working against the clock 74 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: to save the species. Meanwhile, mink farms flourish worldwide. Mink 75 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:40,039 Speaker 1: accounts for eight of the global fur trade, and fur 76 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:44,800 Speaker 1: is still a popular material in oaktor as recently as 77 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:49,880 Speaker 1: two thirds of major Fall fashion week shows worldwide included 78 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:53,599 Speaker 1: for the mink, fur industry in the United States grosses 79 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,560 Speaker 1: around three hundred million dollars a year. There are farms 80 00:04:56,560 --> 00:05:00,600 Speaker 1: in twenty three states, but a few European countries outstrip 81 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: America's farmed for production. Meanwhile, the mink for business is 82 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 1: booming in China, a country with a lot of newly 83 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:11,719 Speaker 1: wealthy citizens in the market for luxury items, coupled with 84 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 1: very few animal welfare regulations. But anti fur activists take 85 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 1: note simply releasing farmed mink into the wild won't do 86 00:05:21,839 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 1: the many favors. In two animal rights activists released between 87 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 1: thirty thousand and forty thousand mink from a fur farm 88 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: in Minnesota, most of the mink died immediately due to 89 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: heat or killed each other when recollected in different social groupings. 90 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 1: As with many issues, focusing on educating the public and 91 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 1: contacting your governmental representatives to help reform laws can help 92 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: the most. Today's episode is based on the article how 93 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:55,799 Speaker 1: Humans have Made a Mess of Mink? On how stuff 94 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:59,040 Speaker 1: Works dot com, written by Jocelyn Shields. Brain Stuff is 95 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radi in partnership with hows Toworks 96 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:04,320 Speaker 1: dot com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang. Four more 97 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: podcasts from my Heart Radio visit the heart Radio app, 98 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.