THE Government has put up a bounty to people who kill wild mink.
Donegal is to be one of the main counties where a new bounty scheme aims to control the numbers of wild mink.
The Heritage Minister Jimmy Deenihan says a national cull of wild mink would be cost-prohibitive and is to focus efforts on the problem here and in Galway, Kerry and Mayo.
Mr Deenihan said he was aware of the work of the National Association of Regional Game Councils on the issue. He added that his department had provided €20,000 to the organisation towards the payment of a bounty to hunters this year.
Last year it was estimated that as many as 35,000 wild mink exist in Ireland.
Minister Deenihan says the bounty will be offered to hunters as a controlled measure based on the number of mink killed.
Mink found in the wild in Donegal are descended from animals escaping from fur farms. They had been breeding in the countryside since the 1950s and were now found throughout much of Ireland.
Now they pose a threat to wild birds and native animals.
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