Eurasian otters have made remarkable recoveries in many European rivers. Their welfare is tightly linked to water quality, prey availability, and road traffic mortality.
Wild otter welfare is a story of remarkable recovery undercut by a persistent modern threat: roads. In countries where otters have bounced back from near-extinction, road mortality now accounts for a significant proportion of annual deaths, particularly in young dispersing animals. Otters are hit while crossing roads between water bodies or moving between river sections. Otter ledges installed under bridges — allowing otters to pass beneath roads without crossing them — are a highly cost-effective welfare intervention that reduces mortality significantly. Protecting recovering otter populations also means maintaining the clean rivers, diverse fish populations, and riparian habitat they depend upon.