The water vole has suffered the fastest decline of any UK mammal — 95% reduction since the 1970s. American mink predation and habitat degradation are the primary welfare threats. Recovery programmes are showing measurable success.
Water voles in mink-infested watercourses live in states of constant predation pressure — colonies collapse within two breeding seasons of mink arrival. The terror response of water voles to mink scent is measurable: reduced foraging time, abandonment of surface feeding and increased defensive burrowing. Without mink control, reintroduced populations fail rapidly. Long-term programmes that combine mink trapping with bankside vegetation restoration produce stable populations with normal foraging behaviour and reproductive success.