Recently BBC Countryfile visited the Wildlife Trust’s Winnall Moors nature reserve to find out how you can spot the tell-tale signs of otters. These shy and elusive creatures nearly went extinct during the middle of the twentieth century as a result of persecution and poisoning from certain pesticides.
However after huge amounts of work by conservation organisations like The Wildlife Trusts, otters have now returned to rivers in every county in England. The phasing out of certain pesticides and huge efforts to improve water quality in our rivers, fish returned to our waterways – and with them, otters. They’re a flagship species of our wetlands – if you see an otter about, you know that the local ecosystem is relatively healthy.