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

American mink have established populations in Europe (including Great Britain and Denmark) and South America.

[7] Mink oil is used in some medical products and cosmetics, as well as to treat, preserve, and waterproof leather.

A wild male mink weighs about 1 kg (2 lb 3 oz) and is about 60 cm (23+1⁄2 in) in length.

Their pelage is deep, rich brown, with or without white spots on the underparts, and consists of a slick, dense underfur overlaid with dark, glossy, almost stiff guard hairs.

[15] The territories, which tend to be long and narrow, stretch along river banks, or around the edges of lakes or marshes.

The mink may stay in its core area, which can be quite small, for several days at a time, but it also makes excursions to the ends of its territory.

The American mink's fur has been highly prized for use in clothing, with hunting giving way to farming.

[18] There have been approximately 6.1 million mink infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, with three variants traced back to farms in the U.S, France, and Denmark.

Mink farming was already due to be discontinued under the 2020 Programme for Government but the coronavirus risk had expedited the closure of the industry.

[22] The United States Department of Agriculture confirmed that cases of minks infected with COVID-19 had been documented in Utah in August 2020.

[23] In November 2020, Denmark, then the world's largest producer of mink fur, slaughtered its entire mink population of 15 to 17 million animals to stop the spread of Cluster 5, a mutated strain of the virus, which has been linked to the animals and resulted in the infection of 12 humans with the mutated variant.

[26][27] Infections within mink were also deemed ancestral to a highly mutated SARS-CoV-2 strain found in Canadian white-tailed deer which subsequently spilled back into humans.

[28][29] Similar to their role of a viral incubator in the COVID-19 pandemic, in October 2022, mink at a farm in Spain became the first observed case of mammal-to-mammal transmission of Influenza A virus subtype H5N1, an avian flu which had only previously jumped to mammals upon close contact or consumption or infected birds.

These abnormal, repetitive behaviours are a result of keeping them imprisoned, and is similar to the deterioration of mental health in humans.

Enrichments are pen-related alterations or the addition of novel objects to improve the mink's physical and psychological health.

[33] Leaving minks alone plays a large role in the prevention of stereotypies, and the animals' well-being.