Monday 25 February 2008

Otters including the recent sighting in Wales

Over the last few decades otters were in decline because of pesticides and habitat loss, but over the last few years the numbers have steadlily increased in the UK.

An otter has recently been discovered in a nature reserve in Denbighshire in North Wales. The sightings have been at the River Clwyd where it has been feeding. Conservations are hoping to set up a holt for the otter, hoping it will take up permanent residence.

Otters are also taking up residence in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. There's a great breeding population of otters on the Shetland Islands, and on the Isle of Mull in Scotland.

I've been lucky enough to see wild otters before, on the Isle Of Mull, at a place called Salen, on the eastern side of the island. It was an amazing experience seeing them catching fish, and feeding the young, and something i'll never forget, they're such magnificent creatures.

It's great to know otters are on the increase.

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