Earth Equity News

Back From the Brink: Otters Return to U.K. Rivers. By Terri Judd, Independent (UK), 10/18/10. “For the past 40 years or more, the sight of otters playing in England's rivers has been a desperately rare treat. Now, at last, it seems the tide is turning in favor of the country's favorite water dwelling animal, which has been brought back from the brink of extinction against the odds. A report [PDF, 12 pp] by the Environment Agency published today reveals that numbers of the once elusive animal are at their highest for decades. Poisoned by toxic pesticides in rivers, the animals had almost disappeared by the 1970s… But a concerted effort to protect the otter, including the introduction of legislation which made it an offence to intentionally kill or harm the animals, has brought about a dramatic resurgence.”