Otter family groups show strong social bonds between females and their cubs, and disruption of family groups through mortality or habitat fragmentation has welfare consequences for surviving individuals.
Otter family welfare depends on the survival of the mother throughout the long dependency period of her cubs. Road mortality that kills a female with cubs leaves those cubs to starve - a welfare harm extending beyond the individual killed. Artificial holts, otter ledges under bridges and pollution-free rivers that support fish populations provide the conditions for successful family welfare.