The RSPCA and the Rehabilitation of Otters

The Otter

The welcome return of the otter to many of our rivers, as demonstrated by the results of the most recent survey of England, is a great success story for conservation. However, increasing otter numbers means increasing interactions with man and a consequence of this is the rehabilitation of injured and orphaned otters.

The RSPCA cares for many wild animals each year, over 20,000 pass through our four wildlife centres alone. The legal provision for doing so comes under Section 10 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which allows for an animal to be taken into care with the purpose of tending and releasing it, or to euthanase it if there was no reasonable chance of recovery. Of these, otters make up a very small percentage, with between 10 and 20 animals passing through our hospitals a year. These animals fall into two types:

-Injured adults
-Orphaned (and sometimes injured) cubs.

Injured adults
The main cause for these admissions are due to road accidents and are usually fatal. Adult otters are difficult animals to handle (as you can imagine) and for an otter to allow itself to be captured, it must be very seriously injured. Therefore, very few adult otters survive; they usually have to be put to sleep because of their injuries. One odd variety of these injured adults is the daft otter. These often behave as if they are tame, approaching people, accepting food, etc. This is usually due to a concussion and the animal reverts to normal wild behaviour after a short spell in care. All adult otters are released back at the point of capture, as quickly as possible and are usually micro-chipped, similar to those used in dogs and cats, which is inserted between the shoulder blades.

Orphaned cubs
These present a very different set of problems. The initial problem is whether or not the otter is a genuine orphan. The RSPCA advice is to leave the animal for a while, ideally overnight, to see if mother returns. However, this can be very difficult if the cub is distressed and impossible if it is in immediate danger. Unlike adults, many of the cubs entering rehabilitation centres will survive to release. As otter cubs are with the mother for up to a year, we keep them for at least twelve months to allow them to grow to full size, but as they are usually picked up in the winter, they will need to be released in the following spring. All our cubs are kept at one centre, which is not owned by the RSPCA. An otter cub needs the company of another cub and using one centre allows us to mix cubs of similar ages and areas of origin, so that, where possible, the cubs can be released together.

When it comes to release sites, the RSPCA works with The Wildlife Trusts (WT) and the Environment Agency (EA) to find suitable sites in the catchment that the cub was found. This is in agreement with the Bio-diversity Steering Group for otters. In this way, the cubs can be considered as dispersing young and so they may not stay where they are released, but then neither may their free-living peers. Like the adults, all the cubs are micro-chipped and those doing post-mortems of otters for the EA know to look for these chips when examining carcasses. Our hospital staff and other vets also know to look, should an otter be brought in to them injured. Rehabilitated orphaned cubs used to be used for restocking programmes in Yorkshire and elsewhere. As a result, there is detailed information available showing that these otters survive after release and go onto to breed. However, all these releases took place when otter densities in these areas were low. As many of the cubs released through the RSPCA are released into areas where there is a good population of otters, the data from previous releases may not be applicable in this situation. More post release monitoring is required, but the problem is finding a method that will not affect the welfare of the otter, but will give us the information we need.

What To Do if You Find An Injured Otter
Should you be unfortunate enough to happen across an injured adult otter.

Observe the animal to ascertain that it is injured. Try to assess the severity, by the way it moves, if it can move.

Otters are occasionally seen in daylight and so this should not be taken to mean that the animal is in distress. If you can approach the animal without it either trying to fight or escape, then it probably needs attention.

Approach it with caution. Otters are dangerous animals, even more so when injured.

Try to contain the animal if you can. An overturned plastic dustbin can be useful to trap the otter. But if it escapes, let it go. You can cause more stress by trying to chase the otter, especially if it is injured.

Phone the RSPCA on 08705 555 999, or your local wildlife centre or vet, if he/she is willing to come out.

Phone the WT or EA and report it to them.

If the casualty is a lactating female, search the surrounding area for cubs. Cubs will start to come above ground at around 10 weeks old; listen for calls. The WT may also want to do this.

Make an exact note of where you found the animal it and any other details that you may think are relevant.

Orphaned Cubs
If you should find an orphaned cub, the first question to ask is, is it orphaned? One example from Cornwall was a cub that was found by a man walking his dog. The cub was sleeping in undergrowth. The man called the RSPCA who called the local WT. While they were discussing what to do, the mother returned and took the cub away! Therefore, on finding a cub, ask yourself that question.

Observe the cub. If it is quiet and sleeping, the answer is probably no. Make a note of the position and return later to see if there is any change.

If the cub is in distress, and whistling and calling, you should leave it a while to see if the mother returns. If the cub is in immediate danger, such as in the road, or in the water then you will probably have to remove it immediately.

Phone the RSPCA on 08705 555 999, or your local wildlife centre or vet, if he/she is willing to come out. Phone the WT or EA and report it to them.

If the casualty is an orphan, look around the surrounding area for other cubs, as otters usually have two cubs, sometimes more.

Make an exact note of where you found the animal and any other details that you may think are relevant.

Do not try and rear the cub yourself. It can be very tempting, but otters need to be kept with other otters and a hand-reared cub is often too tame to be released.

Handling
Assume any otter to be capable of biting, extremely hard. If the casualty is a cub, you should be able to pick it up once it has been covered with a blanket. However, care is required as even small cubs can give a nasty bite. Transfer it to a suitable cage for transporting.

If the animal is an adult, test to see if it is still conscious and if it could be dangerous. If it is conscious, it will probably be unable to move, so cover it with a blanket and transfer it to a suitable cage for transporting. Thick gloves will be useful in case the animal tries to bite through the blanket.

If the animal is trapped, you may require a grasper to restrain it, so it may be removed safely (however no such case has yet been recorded). If the animal is not injured, release it immediately, close to where it was trapped, but away from potential danger such as roads. Otters have been known to be trapped in box traps set for mink or feral cats and in empty ponds or old cellars.