River Deerness otters 'sign of a resilient ecosystem'

BBC News

18 hours ago

Regular sightings of otters on a river are a sign of a healthy local ecosystem, a charity has said.The Wear Rivers Trust said evidence of the mammals living on the River Deerness in County Durham showed the area was home to a diverse range of wildlife.A local resident spotted otters 38 times on his trail camera last year, while environmental groups regularly find otter droppings - known as spraints - in the area.The charity's volunteering and engagement office, Daniel Rutland, said the "apex predators" were a "flagship species" and their presence meant there were lots of other animals around.
"Being apex predators they need a good food supply - that's the reason they're there," he said. "Everything from plants through to insects and fish need to be there to be sufficient food for the otter."
'Good news'
As well as being a sign of a strong ecosystem, otters also increase biodiversity by eating fish, which feed on insect larvae, allowing insects such as dragonflies to develop.Mr Rutland said it was hard to know how many otters lived there because their territories often covered 12 to 18 miles (19.3 to 28.9km) of a riverbank."It could be just one or two otters or a family that cover the whole river and with a really healthy river you could have more than that," he said. "But we'll take the good news and enjoy it."
Despite the positive signs of wildlife, The rivers trust estimates only about 15% of rivers in England are ecologically healthy.The River Deerness was last tested by the Environment Agency in 2019 and was given a poor rating for its ecological quality."There's a long way to go yet to be able to say that any water course is healthy," Mr Rutland said. "But nature is resilient and we just celebrate every sign that there's life and there's recovery."
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