Earlier in the year, we were contacted by the SSPCA in Scotland to ask if we could facilitate two Eurasian otters that they had at the centre that needed to be moved to another centre due to issues with their water treatment plant. Of course, we said yes as its important to work with other centres to ensure the best for the species that we care for.
We were hesitant at first in terms of the travel and logistics, but we collected the animals and transferred them to our centre here in Devon for the completion of their rehabilitation. When they came to us, they weighed around 4kg each and were already paired. They were clearly larger animals than our English animals and as such, we monitored their progression closely to compare with our usual patients/casualties here. They settled in well, were not stressed by the journey in the slightest and simply moved from the travel crates into the new holt supplied for their use.
On Thursday 29th August 2024, they were captured, weighed and crated for their return to the wild in Scotland where they belong. One weighed 6.3kg and the other 6.7kg so a good weight gain for release!
As you can see in the photos, they are in very good condition and will now benefit from being released back into Scotland by our Scottish representative, support fed for as long as needed and of course post
monitored as we do with all of our releases.
The logistics worked extremely well as our Scottish based team member/representative, who is a very experienced otter orphan/casualty carer, had already collected a cub from Scotland (which was named Nevis) and cared for it prior to UKWOT deciding to move him to our
centre, where yesterday, we paired him with a female of a very similar weight that was desperate for company, so by doing this we have helped another 2 otter cubs moving forward, now bringing the total in our care to 26.
The otters made a 1000-mile round journey to our Specialist Otter Rehabilitation Centre in Devon and back to their original home in Scotland. This demonstrates that we can effectively help otters over the whole of the UK and take otters from England, Scotland, Wales & Ireland when required to or asked to help, with no detriment to the animals involved for immediate care and stabilisation before being moved to a suitable facility for onward rehabilitation, wherever that may be deemed best for the otter at that time.
Here at UKWOT, we aim to provide otter casualty care & advice by team members who are directly involved with otter orphan rearing, rehabilitation & care on a 24hr basis and that have many years of
experience and background of proven success in the field of otter orphan care, rearing, rescue, rehabilitation and conservation of this iconic species. its all about helping otters thrive!
