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Eurasian Otter
Britain's largest semi-aquatic carnivore, the otter, has no natural enemies; habitat loss and pollution (principally organo-chlorines and DDT) dramatically and suddenly devastated wild populations in the 60's and 70's, and the animals were all but wiped out in many parts of Britain. Otters need clean, unpolluted waters, wild and untutored. Ted Hughes described the otter as "A King In Hiding", hinting at its elusive habits: otter 'signs' (tracks and spraint) are more often seen than the animal itself; sadly, road casualties are common, whilst others drown in fish-traps. In May, a large dog otter found dead in a fishing net in Suffolk, was taken to Wild Art. Though unfortunate for the individual, at least the incident indicates that numbers locally may be increasing.
25th May 2002
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copyright - Eurasian Otter Site (Cumbria) 2001
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