VIDEO: First otter for nearly a century captured on Normandy camera
The sighting astounded researchers as ecological management encourages a resurgence of otter numbers in several French regions
Conservation efforts have led to the first confirmed otter sighting in Normandy since 1932
GMN / Rods Images Shutterstock
An otter recorded on a wildlife camera in Normandy is the first confirmed sighting of one in the area since 1932.
The camera was installed in the village of Charleval (Eure), not far from Rouen. It is at the junction of two rivers, the Andelle and the Lieure, where the department has worked since 2009 to improve an area designated as Espaces Naturels Sensibles, which it put in place in compensation for land lost by road construction.
Conservation efforts have seen pastures restored and trees planted in the wetlands.
“The reappearance of the otter is a direct result of our conservation policies,” said Myriam Duteil, the department’s vice president, in charge of protecting biodiversity.
“The area has, since 2009, benefitted from a policy of particularly intensive ecological management.”
The department hired a local organisation called Groupe Mammalogique Normand (GMN) to carry out a detailed examination of the wetlands, which included setting up wildlife cameras.
An otter triggered two of the cameras at 21:00 on 24 October.
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Otter resurgence in France
Bastien Thomas of the GMN told The Connexion: “It could be an individual which has travelled a long way to arrive here, or it could be a representative of a small population which has been established here for a while, but which has so far escaped being seen.”
The sighting of the otter took researchers reviewing the footage completely by surprise.
“They say they just about fell off their chairs,” Mr Thomas said.
“Until then they had only seen the animals you would expect, such as deer, coypu, martens and foxes.”
A subsequent search of the area later found some otter dung in another location. This is being analysed to understand if the otter that left it is related to other known otter colonies in France.
At one time, otters were on the verge of extinction in France with fewer than 1,000 estimated to remain in the wild.
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Why did otters die out in France?
They were hunted extensively in the 19th and 20th Centuries, both for their fur, prized for being warm and waterproof, and by anglers because they were thought to decimate fish stocks.
A ban on hunting them was introduced in France in 1972, with further laws banning the use of spring jaw traps in 1994, which occasionally caught otters while allegedly being set up for animals such as coypu.
In 2014, further protection for the animals was introduced with stricter rules on all traps placed near rivers and lakes in France.
The measures had an effect, but because the otter is mainly nocturnal and very well camouflaged, it was difficult to measure how many there were.
In Charente-Maritime, scientists only realised a decade ago that a thriving colony had established itself in marshland, when a curious motorist brought in a creature he had run over accidently, thinking it was a very large marten.
Otters can reach 1.2m in length.
Colonies of otters have also been found in Brittany and in isolated regions of Limousin.
A programme to reintroduce the species was launched in Alsace in 1998, where six otters were bred in captivity before being released, and their descendants are still found in Alsace rivers, where they have been joined by fully wild otters.
Most biologists say that although there are now only an estimated 3,000 otters in the country, the numbers are high enough for a gradual spread of the population across France.
