Otters on the Cherwell

Does anyone know where I can find out the location/ numbers of where Otters were oridinally released, as I am trying to do an impact study. I appreciate Otters have been released countrywide, however as I live on the Cherwell it is easier for me to lay down sand traps to establish there wherabouts, also as I know a lot of local anglers finding fresh kills (fish) is easier. Many thanks for any imput. Mark

I just googled the otter trust and got the following - so I guess you should start with English Nature
=====
"Important Announcement: Mission Accomplished
The Trust's Earsham Centre was opened to the public in 1976 so that money paid by the public for admission could be used to support an extensive otter-breeding programme. Otters were needed for reintroduction to restore the otter to English rivers following the devastating effect of organo-phosphorus insecticides on aquatic wildlife during the 1960s.

This project was carried out by The Otter Trust on behalf of the Nature Conservancy Council (now English Nature). Otter numbers have grown dramatically since the first reintroductions in 1983 and this success means that no further releases of captive-bred otters have been needed since the 117th otter was reintroduced by the Trust in 1999.

The breeding programme has therefore been scaled right back and it is now time to close it altogether. This means that the Earsham site would not be a viable visitor attraction and therefore is no longer open to the public. Members of the Trust will still be able to visit Earsham - by appointment only - to enjoy the tranquillity of the beautiful scenery and the wildfowl, but there will be no otters.

This change in the nature of the Earsham Centre does not mean that the Trust itself is closing but rather that it will concentrate on it's original 1971 conservation aims rather than focussing most resources on breeding.

Please note that the Tamar Otter Sanctuary has been sold and the Otter Trust is no longer associated with it.

The Otter Trust North Pennines Reserve near Bowes, Co Durham, is also no longer open to visitors other than members of the Trust, who may tour the reserve with a keeper by prior appointment only. No otters are kept there.

The Otter Trust Earsham Centre is also closed to the general public. It is open only to trust members, by prior appointement. No otters are kept there.:

Thanks for that. I will send them an email, hopefully they will co-operate. Seems strange reading the above as I know for a fact a pair were released just two years ago!! I know this because I saw them do it. Anyway thanks for the info and help. All the best Mark

mark t said:

Thanks for that. I will send them an email, hopefully they will co-operate. Seems strange reading the above as I know for a fact a pair were released just two years ago!! I know this because I saw them do it. Anyway thanks for the info and help. All the best Mark

Click to expand...

What you probably saw was rehabilitated otters. That's wild otters that have been taken into captivity for some reasons, injury, orphans and then released back into the wild when recovered.

Phil (The Bad One) is right. Captive breeding programs stopped because of in-breeding but rescued otters under one year old (orphans or injured) are rehabilitated and released. Otters over one year old are too difficult to handle if injured.

Many thanks for that. Do you know how release sites are chosen?

mark t said:

Many thanks for that. Do you know how release sites are chosen?

Click to expand...

With rehabilitated otters, they put them back into the same place they were found is my understanding.
Whether that's a correct policy or not is open to debate.

If your question is a wider one of how were release sites chosen when they were releasing captive breed otters.? One thing is for sure, they didn't do it based on ecological impact studies!

It would appear they did it based on the National Otter Surveys and where an area showed no otters present, and the habitat seemed good enough for them, they released them into it.

It would appear Mr 'O' B one you have the same view reguards the re introduction of these fine predators as I do. The problem for me seems to revolve around the fact that nothing was done to re introduce the eel stocks prior to there release (a favoured food item) indeed I defy anyone to find an eel on the Cherwell. If the food chain had been correctly managed many of the problems resulting from the re introduction could have been avoided. But instant results are what counts. The fact that food stocks are unsustainable has no bearing whatsoever. So eventually the Otters will starve themselves out, nice picture that will be. unless of course the E A keep feeding them with our license money!

mark t said:

It would appear Mr 'O' B one you have the same view reguards the re introduction of these fine predators as I do. The problem for me seems to revolve around the fact that nothing was done to re introduce the eel stocks prior to there release (a favoured food item) indeed I defy anyone to find an eel on the Cherwell. If the food chain had been correctly managed many of the problems resulting from the re introduction could have been avoided. But instant results are what counts. The fact that food stocks are unsustainable has no bearing whatsoever. So eventually the Otters will starve themselves out, nice picture that will be. unless of course the E A keep feeding them with our license money!

Click to expand...

I'm not sure that we do share the same view, as I do not have a problem with the reintroduction of otters.
I do have a problem with the way it was done by the Otter Trust supported by Natural England as it was then. Ie the failure to do Ecological Impact Surveys to see whether the habitat they were releasing them into was a wholly sustainable fishery, that would take predation by thee apex predator.
And the failure to consult any angling body before they were released regionally or nationally.

However, what is done is done, we just make sure a similar thing never happens again. And there is one looming, and it's Beavers.

What I won't support in anyway, shape or form is a cull of these animals....Not that anybody would get the go-a-head legally to do it. Neither do I support some of the comments made on this site and others by so-called anglers, to take matters into there own hands and act illegally by clandestinely culling them.

I suggest you do a search of the archives of this site and have a look for a very long thread on the subject of otters, as this debate has been ruminated and cogitated over several times before. And my views haven't changed one jot from the position I took then.

I was correct, we share very similar views. Otters are an indigenous species which have a place in the counryside. I am only looking into this as I keep basic records of fish I catch from my local river, and am trying in a very unscientific way to find out why they are disappearing. We also have a major Signal red crayfish problem.

mark t said:

I was correct, we share very similar views. Otters are an indigenous species which have a place in the counryside. I am only looking into this as I keep basic records of fish I catch from my local river, and am trying in a very unscientific way to find out why they are disappearing. We also have a major Signal red crayfish problem.

Click to expand...

Apologies then Mark, I misunderstood where you were coming from.
However, the otter thread, even though long, is worth a read, as it might give you some direction to look into.

I really don't think you'll find a silver bullet though to the problem, it's far more complex than that and is most likely to be a combination of things.

Perhaps the skill, if there is one in all this, is to prioritise and categorise them in a descending list of impacts.

That should keep you going for some while to come.

Thanks for the help. I would say it will keep me going for a life-time or two. All the best Mark

mark t said:

Thanks for the help. I would say it will keep me going for a life-time or two. All the best Mark

Click to expand...

I'm sure it will!
If you pm me privately your e-mail address, I'll send you lots of scientifically validated stuff on otters.