The otter population is booming according to the latest survey with signs of the mammals in 1,000 sites across Wales. Not self-proclaimed, but a name I've been given by locals at two of my favourite Otter spotting locations. Adorable footage shows otters and badgers relaxing and playing with their young in North Wales as the coronavirus lockdown leads to a marked reduction in human activity Hidden cameras in rural North Wales captured the footage of the animals Shows several badgers playing together in the middle of the night Wildlife expert from Wales also […] Pembrokeshire's unspoilt coast, waterways and countryside are a wildlife watcher's haven attracting vast colonies of sea birds, seals, puffins and otters, to name a few. Sonya Jones, from Clevedon, Somerset, caught the playful raft of otters on April 29 while on a Ramsey Island excursion with Thousand Island Expeditions. [3] The river otter was first classified in the genus Lutra; Lutra was the early European name. The return of the otter to waterways across the country is one of the UK’s top conservation success stories. OP . Just checkin' out the fish on a snowy day in West Wales. Otters are adapted to life on both land and in water. The species name was Lutra canadensis. The River Usk is an important site for otters Lutra lutra in Wales. The otter is a fish hunter, though it happily eats waterbirds, amphibians and crustaceans too, including American signal crayfish. They are believed to be using most parts of the main river, from Newport upstream, and in recent years signs of otters have increased. Otter, Shetland, July 2020 by John Moncrieff, on Flickr ... Website: www.wild-wales.com. Sonya, who’s on holiday in Fishguard, wrote … In 1991 an expansion upstream of known otter ranges was recorded on several tributaries, including the Honddu, Senni and Crai. In 1979, the first national survey of otter hotspots across Britain showed that only 20% of sites in Wales hosted the mammals. crieffy. Hi - I'm Jeff, the Otterman! Just checkin' out the fish on a snowy day in West Wales. [2] Check out the amazing video of otters off Ramsey Island. Reactions: crieffy. But more recent UK surveys saw as many as 70% of … The species was driven to near extinction in some areas between the 1950s and 1970s, but thanks to improvements in water quality and greater protection it can once again be found across Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and – as of 2011 – every county in England. Messages 1,308 Name John Moncrieff Edit My Images Yes A moment ago. They have webbed feet for swimming, dense fur for warmth, and can close their ears and nose underwater. Our otters are TV stars – thanks to film cameraman Richard Hopkins If you didn’t see the BBC Wales Cymru series Wales: Land of the Wild , you really missed a treat. Other documented common names are American otter, Canada otter, Canadian otter, fish otter, land otter, nearctic river otter, and Prince of Wales otter. You also missed some fabulous footage of our otters in action and at play around the Botanic Garden lakes.