Otters
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Otters are semi-aquatic mammals, as such their preferred habitats are marshlands, river banks and wetlands. To support this they have adapted webbed feet for swimming, with dark brown fur, small ears and long bodies they can be hard to see in the water; maintaining a low profile above the water. Averaging between 50cm-80cm in length with their tails averaging 30cm - 60cm to aid them in swimming. The otter weighs in at an average of 8kg and can live as long as 10 years.
Otters can have litters of cubs at any time of the year, with litters usually being two to three cubs. Cubs are born in otter 'holts' which tend to be in tree root systems, under rocks or holes in the river bank. |
Otters eat a diet of eels, fish and depending on time of the year - crayfish. On occasion they have been known to eat water birds such as ducks and moorhens.
Otter populations rapidly declined in the 1950's, thought to be a result of habitat destruction and pollutants flushed into the river systems. Otters are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, making it illegal to kill, keep or sell them as the otter population remains at risk with recovery fragmented by region with numbers struggling to increase in the south.
If you suspect someone is causing harm to an otter, please contact the police immediately.
Otter populations rapidly declined in the 1950's, thought to be a result of habitat destruction and pollutants flushed into the river systems. Otters are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, making it illegal to kill, keep or sell them as the otter population remains at risk with recovery fragmented by region with numbers struggling to increase in the south.
If you suspect someone is causing harm to an otter, please contact the police immediately.