Denmark is culling its 17-million strong mink population

After the Danish Public Health Authority (Statens Serum Institut) discovered the mutated version of coronavirus in mink, the Denmark government decided to cull all of the country’s over 17-million population of the animal.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2020

Key-Points

Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera Neovison and Mustela, and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters and ferrets.

There are two extant species referred to as “mink”: the American mink and the European mink.

The European mink is listed by the IUCN as Critically Endangered due to an ongoing reduction in numbers.

Denmark is the world’s largest mink producer, with a 15-17 million strong mink population across 1,100 farms. The country’s mink population is valued at roughly 3 billion kroner.