This number ranges from 130-157 individuals across the state, according to an estimate coordinated by Miteco. Carried out with the participation of all the administrations related to this species and with the collaboration of experts of the CIBIO Research Institute - Portugal and the Research Institute of Cinegetic Resources IREC-CSIC.

The European mink, as explained by the IREC, is a species included in the Spanish Catalog of Endangered Species in the category "Endangered Species", and is one of the seven species that in the Spanish state declared "Critical State" in 2018.

According to data from regional associations and governments, the European mink population was about 500 years old. Despite having its own conservation strategy since 2005 and being a "at risk" status since 2018, nothing has slowed down the trend of disappearance: there are an estimated 142 throughout the state, according to the latest estimate published this Monday by the Ministry of Ecological Transition. In 2000 it was about 1,000.

Its territory is small, lives on the top of the Ebro basin in Álava, Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia, Navarra, La Rioja, Castilla y León Norte (Burgos y Soria) and some urban center in Zaragoza.

Currently, there are only three sub-populations in the world: North-West Europe (Russia, in very restricted areas), South-East Europe (Danube and Dniester deltas, Romania and Ukraine) and Western Europe (Northern Spanish State and South-West French State). All of them have calculated a reduction above 95% since the middle of the 19th century.