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Animal Age

How old does a European mink get? (age expectancy)

What is the maximal age a European mink reaches?

An adult European mink (Mustela lutreola) usually gets as old as 10 years.

European minks are around 43 days in the womb of their mother. When born, they weight 7 grams (0.02 lbs) and measure 2.1 cm (0′ 1″). As a member of the Mustelidae family (genus: Mustela), their offspring is 4 babies per pregnancy. Fully grown, they reach a bodylength of 36.1 cm (1′ 3″).

As a reference: Usually, humans get as old as 100 years, with the average being around 75 years. After being carried in the belly of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks), they grow to an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) and weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual.

A European mink gets as old as 10 years

The European mink (Mustela lutreola), also known as the Russian mink and Eurasian mink, is a semiaquatic species of mustelid native to Europe.It is similar in colour to the American mink, but is slightly smaller and has a less specialized skull. Despite having a similar name, build and behaviour, the European mink is not closely related to the American mink, being much closer to the European polecat and Siberian weasel (kolonok). The European mink occurs primarily by forest streams unlikely to freeze in winter. It primarily feeds on voles, frogs, fish, crustaceans and insects.The European mink is listed by the IUCN as Critically Endangered due to an ongoing reduction in numbers, having been calculated as declining more than 50% over the past three generations and expected to decline at a rate exceeding 80% over the next three generations. European mink numbers began to shrink during the 19th century, with the species rapidly becoming extinct in some parts of Central Europe. During the 20th century, mink numbers declined all throughout their range, the reasons for which having been hypothesised to be due to a combination of factors, including climate change, competition with (as well as diseases spread by) the introduced American mink, habitat destruction, declines in crayfish numbers and hybridisation with the European polecat. In Central Europe and Finland, the decline preceded the introduction of the American mink, having likely been due to the destruction of river ecosystems, while in Estonia, the decline seems to coincide with the spread of the American mink.

Animals of the same family as a European mink

Not really brothers and sisters, but from the same biological family (Mustelidae):

Animals that reach the same age as European mink

With an average age of 10 years, European mink are in good companionship of the following animals:

Animals with the same number of babies European mink

The same number of babies at once (4) are born by:

Weighting as much as European mink

A fully grown European mink reaches around 567 grams (1.25 lbs). So do these animals:

Animals as big as a European mink

Those animals grow as big as a European mink: