Otters are indicators of healthy freshwater ecosystems. Their recovery and continued protection reflects improvements in both water quality and conservation management.
Otter welfare is closely tied to ecosystem health. Otters in polluted waterways with depleted fish stocks experience chronic nutritional stress. Road mortality causes traumatic injury. The recovery of otter populations represents a genuine conservation success but requires continued vigilance — road mortality, illegal persecution, and water quality decline all threaten the gains made. Individual otters injured in road traffic accidents or caught in fish traps require rapid access to specialist wildlife veterinary care.