“Unlike the fox, the otter has been a rare visitor in towns and cities across the UK. But after decades of intense conservation work, that is changing. In the past year alone, the aquatic mammal has been spotted on a river-boat dock in London’s Canary Wharf, dragging an enormous fish along a riverbank in Stratford-upon-Avon, and plundering garden ponds near York. One otter was even filmed causing chaos in a Shetland family’s kitchen in March.

Janice Bradley, head of nature recovery for the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, says: ‘Twenty years ago, they were almost nonexistent. Then we saw them coming up the River Trent from other areas. Now, we’ve got records of otters in virtually every river and watercourse in the county. It’s remarkable.’

Nobody knows how many otters there are in the UK, although it is widely agreed that the population has increased, after nearly being wiped out in the polluted waterways of mid-20th century Britain. Some naturalists estimate there are 11,000 nationwide, but acknowledge that it is guesswork.

In the 1970s, surveyors searched nearly 3,000 sites across the UK, but found the animals at just 6% of them, mainly in strongholds in Scotland, Wales, Norfolk and south-west England. Now, they are widespread, using their sensitive whiskers and webbed feet to hunt in waters across the country.

Their return is a fragile tale of improving water quality, say conservationists.”

From The Guardian.