Otters have made a remarkable comeback across the UK following bans on organochlorine pesticides. Their welfare and continued recovery depend on clean rivers and legal protection.
Otter recovery is one of the UK's great wildlife success stories, attributable to clean water legislation and pesticide bans. Individual otter welfare is now most threatened by road mortality - otters follow watercourses and cross roads at culverts that are impassable during floods. Otter ledges and underpasses beneath road bridges dramatically reduce road crossing mortality. Water pollution events still cause individual deaths and localized population impacts. Continued recovery requires maintaining clean rivers through stringent enforcement of water quality standards.