French zoo names mink breeding center after Estonian zoologist
A European mink breeding center at Calviac Zoo in southern France has been named after Estonian zoologist and MP Tiit Maran. Maran said such honors usually come after a person's death.
Calviac Zoo in southern France opened a European mink breeding center last week and named it after Tiit Maran, an Estonian zoologist and member of the Riigikogu, Estonia's parliament. The zoo lies east of Bordeaux and focuses mainly on nature conservation. The European mink has become very rare in the wild, so such centers help preserve the species.
Maran told ETV's "Ringvaade" program that the zoo's director invited him to the opening and only then revealed the center would carry his name. The zoologist said he could not refuse and gave a speech at the opening of a center named after himself. He joked that this usually happens posthumously, not to someone still alive.
The breeding program
European mink breeding began at Tallinn Zoo in Estonia. The first centers outside Tallinn were set up in Spain, where three centers house around 100 animals. France has two centers that preserve the genetic pool and release animals into the wild. By Maran's estimate, France may have about 100 animals in the wild, Spain about 200, and the Estonian island of Hiiumaa perhaps 100 this autumn.
Why the species vanished from the wild
The European mink disappeared from the wild because of the highly invasive American mink. The American mink is larger, stronger and more aggressive, makes better use of habitats and reproduces far more. Maran said it is considered one of the 10 most invasive alien species in Europe. American mink are continuously trapped to remove them from the wild.
The species reached Estonia when mink fur coats were popular. Fur farms were established, and animals escaped from them into the wild. Those farms are now closed, partly thanks to COVID, so that risk no longer exists, but the animal is still present in the wild.
A community zoo
Maran described Calviac Zoo as a community zoo. Its director was a student of Gerald Durrell and wanted to build a similarly impressive zoo focused primarily on nature conservation. Local people support the zoo and help get work done there.
