by JimDabell
4 subcomments
- A similar thing happened here in Singapore. Otters were endangered, but after the government worked to clean up the waterways, they came back. They are now thriving, to the point where my condo has signs up saying “What to do when you encounter otters” [0] because occasionally they come in and raid our fish pond.
[0] https://imgur.com/a/pLH5gNj
by pazimzadeh
0 subcomment
The first sign isn’t the otter itself. It’s the ripple – small, nearly invisible – spreading across the marsh.
Their return isn’t just welcome. It’s a sign the lakes themselves are healing.
The lake seems unchanged – yet it isn’t
The living world is not just an escape from humanity’s problems – it is the answer to them.
It's all so tiring
- Finally some good news. I had no idea the Ohio Department of Wildlife had such an outstanding role in the recovery in the Great Lakes region. River otters are really interesting creatures.
Humboldt State supports an active citizen science project to observe and document river otter populations in the ~watershed of Humboldt Bay in Northern California. It's a cool model for engaging with the community to help protecting its natural resources. I could easily imagine similar resources in other regions.
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https://hsu.reclaim.hosting/NorthCoastOtters/
- Otters seem to be doing quite well in town centres in the UK, along with more usual suspects: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/dec/12/otter-ci...
- River Otters have been pretty prevalent in the San Juan Islands. I've not heard of issues with them there. I more hear negative impacts - going after chickens/etc; aggressive; things like that.
by lordgrenville
2 subcomments
- I recently read Tarka the Otter [1], which is the story of a life of an otter. At the end he is hunted by a farmer and a pack of otter hounds. It is pretty brutal. Reminds you that at the time they were seen as vermin and a nuisance, not cute and furry.
[1] https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75899
- The main character of the stories I tell my son is an otter. They are very cute and resilient animals, was surprised to hear that they were, too, once endangered.
There are also some YouTube channels that share the days of some otters in captivity, not sure about how I feel about that.
- This is one of the most hopeful and exciting things I've read in years.
- Also seeing minks and fishers.
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