A trail camera installed as part of our ARC Project partnership has captured the first ever footage of an otter in Sussex.
Video camera’s were fitted after a member of the public contacted the ARC team to report what they thought were otter tracks on a river bank. Within a few days, this unmistakable footage was captured!
Sussex is one of the last UK counties to see wild otters return naturally following their population decline. Sightings have been few and far between, with the last verified live sighting in Sussex reported more than five years ago. The filming location will be kept a closely guarded secret, to allow this otter to establish a territory and search for a mate.
Our Regional Conservation Manager, Alan Johnson, highlights just how important the footage is:
“This is really exciting news for Sussex and shows how successful conservation intervention can be. Otters are a flagship species, at the top of the wetland food chain. We know that if otters are healthy, then the species in the food chain below them are also healthy. Through bringing together expertise from several organisations, the ARC project has been able to improve the local waterways and encourage native species such as otter, water vole, eel, rare birds and insects to naturally re-colonise the area.”
Otters were once widespread in the UK, but from the 1960s they became extinct in many parts of the UK, including Sussex, due to habitat loss, pollution and persecution. This footage proves the efforts of all involved are having a positive impact.
Otters are difficult to observe in the wild as they are generally nocturnal, solitary and secretive creatures. Sadly, sightings of actual otters in Sussex are usually when one is found dead. No females had been sighted in East Sussex until 2010, when one was reported dead by a roadside. Males can use up to 40km of river as their territory, meanwhile, female otters have a smaller territory, but it takes around two years for them to reach breeding age. They only usually breed once a year and don’t usually live beyond the age of four in the wild.
The ARC project has been working to improve West Sussex habitats, with the help of over 1100 volunteers. As part of the landscape scale conservation project, over 2.6km of internationally rare chalk streams have been restored, providing the perfect habitat for otter, trout and water vole. Our wildlife cameras have already been used to help school children and community groups get closer to the nature on their doorstep, capturing badgers and foxes along with other wildlife in community green spaces.
The RSP- led ARC project is a partnership between seven organisations; the RSPB, the Environment Agency, Sussex Wildlife Trust, South Downs National Park Authority, Natural England, West Sussex County Council and the Arun and Rother Rivers Trust. It has received national recognition, winning the Campaign for National Park’s ‘Park Protector Award’, was highly commended at the national Charity Awards and was shortlisted for the CIRIA BIG Biodiversity Challenge Awards, too. We are very grateful the Heritage Lottery Fund for supporting the project.
If you think you have seen signs of an otter in Sussex contact the Sussex Mammal Group or Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre. For more about the ARC project, visit: http://arunwesternstreams.org.uk/projects/arc or follow #ARCproject on Twitter.