Habitat loss and predation by American mink means that water voles have suffered a huge decline in the last few decades and are now highly endangered.

A hundred water voles will be released this week at a site in West Wales

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) will release 100 water voles in Wales this week in a bid to save Britain's fastest disappearing mammal.

The water voles will be released at Ffrwd Farm near Pembrey, which is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).  The farm was selected for its ditches, ponds, fen and reedbeds which provide excellent habitat for water voles.

Hilary Foster, biodiversity officer at NRW, said: “Water voles were once common in rivers, canals and ponds across Wales.

"But habitat loss and predation by American mink means that they have suffered a huge decline in the last few decades and are now highly endangered.

“Setting up this new population in an ideal site is an important step to give them a better chance of survival in West Wales."

The voles are the offspring of a small number of water voles, which were captured from a site in Llanelli last autumn. They were kept in captivity over the winter and paired up to breed during the spring.

Ahead of the release, NRW have been working with conservation groups and local landowners to improve the surrounding habitats for water voles. This has involved clearing and fencing ditches, as well as monitoring and trapping mink in the surrounding areas.

Once the water voles are released, it is hoped that they will disperse into the surrounding landscape to re-colonise the ditch systems where they were once common.