Over the last month we have been working with a team from the RSPCA to help them release two otters back into the wild. One of them had been found as a very young pup around this time last year in Atcham, and was rescued and rehabilitated by the RSPCA along with the other pup. Now both old enough to look after themselves the task on hand was to find a safe place to reintroduce them to the river. Together, we spent a day building a fence in a secret location so that the pups could spend two weeks getting used to the sights and sounds of the area from within a compound. I fed them each evening with fish, and then the time came to open the fence and let them go back out into the world. These otters were raised as wild as possible to give them the best chance of survival so I didn't see them for the entire fortnight as they hid all day and at the slightest sound of my approach; however, we did catch them playing, swimming and feeding at night on infrared cameras.
There are already otters living in and around the two rivers on the Estate so we know that there is plenty of food and shelter for them. Hopefully these two have swum off to find a territory of their own further up or downstream. Otters can live up to 16 years so good luck to them!
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| NT and RSPCA working together for wildlife |
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| Filling the temporary pool so the otters can swim |
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| The transport boxes were left as temporary shelters |
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| The first fence, which was reinforced with electric fencing to deter early otter escape! |
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