Biology, husbandry systems and farm practices for American mink, red and Arctic foxes, raccoon dog and chinchilla kept for fur production

Abstract

This Technical Report was prepared in response to a mandate from the European Commission under Article 31 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002. The request focused on updating the literature review from the 2001 report “The Welfare of Animals Kept for Fur Production” (SCAHAW, 2001), specifically addressing Section 4 (general aspects of carnivore biology—mink, foxes, and raccoon dog) and Section 5 (general aspects of rodent biology—chinchilla). Using information obtained from a review of literature, a call for evidence from stakeholders, field visits and consideration by experts in an EFSA working group, this report reviews the most up to date information on the species’ biology, production cycles, most common husbandry systems, including field-tested systems, and farming practices used for the commercial fur production of the following species: i) American mink (Neogale vison or Neovison vison, previously classified as Mustela vison), ii) Red fox (Vulpes vulpes, and also known as 'silver fox'), iii) Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus, previously classified as Alopex lagopus and also known as 'blue fox'), iv) Raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides, also known as ‘finnraccoon’), and v) Chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera).