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The Return of River Otters to Western New York

October 31, 2021 by Editorial Staff 5 Comments

River Otter by Tim O’TooleThe North American river otter (Lontra canadensis), a member of the weasel family, is about 3-4 feet long including their tails. They have a streamlined body, short legs with fully webbed feet, a muscular tail, and dense, short, glossy fur — all of which aid them in being excellent swimmers. They also have close-able nostrils and ears for swimming and foraging underwater.

Historically, river otter could be found throughout New York, but they declined due to unregulated hunting, habitat destruction, and water pollution.

In the early 1990s, the river otter was only found in the eastern half of New York State.

The New York River Otter Project helped bring river otter back to Western New York, with the help of volunteers and DEC staff. From 1995 through 2000, 279 river otter were captured in Eastern New York and released at 16 different sites across the western part of the state.

When and Where to See Otters:

  • Otters are active year-round. They spend most of their time in the water, so look in or along the shores of ponds, lakes, and rivers.
  • A good place to look for otters is at Mongaup Valley Wildlife Management Area in Sullivan and Orange counties.

Read about the lifecycle of river otters.

Photo of a river otter by Tim O’Toole.

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Filed Under: Nature, Western NY Tagged With: Environmental History, Mongaup Valley, nature, small mammals, Wildlife

About Editorial Staff

Stories written under the Editorial Staff byline are drawn from press releases and other notices. Submit your news to New York Almanack here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. kenneth koprowski says

    March 19, 2022 at 2:38 PM

    are there otter in erie county now ???

    Reply
    • Jojo Abaya says

      July 18, 2022 at 2:12 PM

      Yes they are here!
      I took a video and pictures of a River Otter in my Pond in East Amherst NY on Saturday July 16th 2022 at around 12:40 pm.
      I sent the videos and pics to the NYS DEC and they messaged me that indeed it was a River Otter.

      Reply
  2. Chris says

    April 9, 2022 at 6:49 PM

    I’m going to say no, I did get into an argument with a couple of idiots on Facebook they both had pictures the one turned out to be an oversized mink once he finally came forward with the pictures the other guy really pissed me off because he said the picture was taken in Buffalo and it was a river otter and I said at the Buffalo Zoo yes anyplace else no!
    Well it turned out he lied his picture was from the Adirondacks and was he embarrassed when he got caught needless to say I haven’t seen anything posted by him in a long time, so until I see proof with a landmark in the background or a DEC Agent tells me otherwise it’s all bullshit from idiots, I would believe a Rattlesnake before anything else because I’ve actually seen them and they are a protected species both varieties.

    Reply
  3. Mary Borrello Dee says

    April 24, 2022 at 8:35 PM

    My husband and I (and a neighbor) have seen a River otter in Silver Creek, first sighting in April of 2011. My husband and I both had one, last week, in our backyard (we live right on the lake a block away from Walnut Creek and Silver Creek, which is the direction it was, the 1st couple sightings swimming to, as well as the last sighting running through our yard. I also have a couple videos of it swimming. One at the mouth of Walnut/Silver Creek with a fish in it’s mouth.

    Reply
  4. Audrey says

    August 5, 2022 at 7:55 PM

    My husband and I just found one swimming in our pool in Kenmore, NY. It kept running on the solar cover and going back in the water. We we shut the screen door it got scared and climbed out and ran across the yard. We know it was an otter because we see them all the time in our pond in Florida. August 5. 2022

    Reply

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