Conservationists are cheering remarkable news out of France, as an otter was spotted in Normandy for the first time in nearly 100 years.
The animal was spotted on a wildlife camera near the Andelle and Lieure rivers, according to a report in The Connexion. Cameras had been put in the location by conservation groups to examine the wetland area, and when researchers reviewing the footage spotted the otter, they “just about fell off their chairs,” they told the publication.
The previous confirmed otter sighting in the region occurred in 1932.
Otters were once prevalent in France but had disappeared from much of the country by the 1980s, according to Wildlife in France. That population decrease was largely due to hunting, trapping, and habitat loss from the building of roads and the drying up of waterways.
At their lowest, The Connexion wrote, there were fewer than 1,000 wild otters in France. But a concerted effort to preserve and protect them has paid off.
“The reappearance of the otter is a direct result of our conservation policies,” local official Myriam Dutell told the publication. “The area has, since 2009, benefited from a policy of particularly intensive ecological management.”
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Officials aren’t sure if this newly spotted otter came from another area or may be part of a previously unspotted population in Normandy. But no matter how it got there, it’s an encouraging sign for the region. Reintroducing a species into a native area promotes a healthier, more diverse ecosystem.
In Alabama, for example, Eastern indigo snakes were reintroduced into a forest where they once thrived but hadn’t been seen in roughly 70 years. A reintroduced herd of bison is expected to help air pollution in Romania, and in the Galapagos Islands, reintroduced tortoises should improve biodiversity.
This also isn’t the first unexpected otter sighting in recent memory. Last year, two sea otters were spotted off the Oregon coast — the first such sighting since the early 1900s.
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