Threatened Otters Return to UK Waterways

Threatened Otters Return to UK Waterways

    

January 2007  - New recovery targets for 
the UK’s threatened otter populations have been set by the 
government following confirmation that the species has been 
sighted in every major British city. 
The aquatic mammals are returning to rivers where they have 
not been seen for decades. Last year, otters were discovered 
in central London for the first time in over a century. 
By 2010, the British government has pledged to restore 
breeding otters to all the areas where they were recorded 
prior to the 1960s - river banks, lakes and coastal areas. 
This target is in the government's Biodiversity Steering Group 
Report, which includes the otter. 
The otter, Lutra lutra, is on the road to recovery in Britain. 
(Photo courtesy WWF-UK) 
"The gradual recovery of otters has been very promising over 
the past two decades, and we want to ensure this continues 
into the future," said Environment Agency otter specialist 
Graham Scholey. 
A new Biodiversity Action Plan target issued by the government 
aims to return the aquatic mammal to 85 percent of its former 
river habitat by 2015. 
Biodiversity Action Plans are targeted actions to protect and 
enhance 391 species and 45 habitats that are under threat in 
the UK, including otters. 
While otter monitoring studies are conducted every seven 
years, the Environment Agency gives no current otter 
population figures. 
The agency does say that the most promising improvement in 
otter populations has been in England where otters are now 
found in almost twice as many areas as they were 10 years ago. 

"In the late 1970s our initial goal was to consolidate numbers 
and stop the otter population from further losses. At this 
time only six percent of traditional sites in England had 
evidence of otters," said Scholey. But with water quality and 
habitat improvements, scientific surveys have shown that 
otters have returned to at least 75 percent of the territory 
that once formed their traditional range. 
"This doesn’t mean these rivers have established viable 
long-term populations," he said. "In some cases it may only be 
one or two otters moving back into an area where their 
ancestors had previously flourished. But it’s a good sign." 
The otter is listed on Appendix I of the Convention on 
International Trade in Endangered Species, which means they 
cannot be traded. They are protected under the Convention on 
the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, 
known as the Bern Convention, and also under the European 
Union's Habitats Directive. 
When otter populations were at their lowest in the 1960s and 
'70s, the Tryweryn catchment in Snowdonia National Park was 
one of their last strongholds in Wales. (Photo courtesy 
Environment Agency) 
The European sub-species of otter is also listed as globally 
threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 
The conservation group WWF-UK and partner organizations are 
helping to maintain and expand existing otter populations. 
WWF and the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust are working together 
on a section of the River Avon to provide a suitable habitat 
for otters moving through the district by recreating an 
historic wetland area. 
WWF is also surveying parts of Cheshire and Essex for otters, 
and intends to monitor their movements in these counties. 
There are proposals for two Special Areas of Conservation for 
otters and WWF is lobbying for more protected sites so that 
habitat suitable to otters and other aquatic animals can be 
maintained. 
Scholey said, "Working with local wildlife trusts and water 
companies to improve water quality, riverbank habitats and 
wetlands has undoubtedly helped the otter populations to 
establish and grow." 
"Although otter numbers in the rivers surrounding London and 
the Southeast are still low compared to some other parts of 
the country this is clear evidence that the population is 
breeding and spreading," he said. 
Destruction of riverside habitat and hunting, followed by 
rapid industrialization in the 1950s nearly wiped out the 
otter which disappeared completely from much of England, Wales 
and southern Scotland. 
At that time, increasing numbers of factories and residential 
development spewed organo-chlorine pesticides and 
polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs, into the environment where 
they accumulated in the food chain, especially in the fatty 
tissues of eels, a favorite food of otters. Poisoned by the 
toxics, otters suffered damage to reproductive and immune 
systems, and numbers further declined. 
A ban on some members of this class of pesticides has helped 
the recovery of otter populations. 
Pesticide and PCB levels in fresh water food chains have 
declined steadily and WWF says, "There can be confidence in 
the otter's future if the threat of a resurgence of pollution 
is kept in mind and curbed." 
Today many otters are killed crossing roads especially in 
lowland river areas where they have reappeared. WWF recommends 
that bridges be built with otter corridors to improve the 
animals' road safety. 
"We now need to accurately monitor their fortunes and health 
into the future and deal with any threats, such as road 
kills," said Scholey. "As top predator, the otter is one the 
most valuable indicators of a healthy water environment, and 
achievement of these targets will be testimony to the 
continued improvement in the state of our rivers."