PRESS RELEASE

29 March 2010

WELCOMING OTTERS BACK TO CHESHIRE

Otters have returned and colonised all of Cheshire’s large rivers in the past 30 years. This remarkable comeback is largely due to the increasingly good water quality in our rivers and the banning of pesticides such as Aldrin and Dieldrin, which affected otters significantly.

Although it is a great conservation success story, members of the Cheshire region Biodiversity Partnership realised that farmers and landowners were acutely unaware of otters, how to identify if they have otters on their land and what habitats they need.

A training day was held in Mickle Trafford to help local land managers and farmers learn all about this seldom seen mammal. Cheshire Wildlife Trust’s Living Landscape Manager, Richard Gardner, introduced everyone to otters and provided a wealth of information about their ecology and what to look for on their own land.

“The day included looking for fresh signs of otter along the River Gowy, followed by a jaunt to see an artificial holt that was installed in December 2008, which is already showing signs of habitation by otters,” said Richard. “Participants then had the chance to get their hands dirty and build an otter holt that will in years to come undoubtedly provide a valuable resting place for the River Gowy’s otters.”

Also attending the day was BBC Northwest Tonight’s team – footage from the event will be aired on the programme within the next few weeks.

The work ties in with CWT’s Living Landscapes project, which aims to link up individual wildlife sites and wildlife corridors within the huge Gowy and Mersey Washlands Living Landscape project area. The day was funded by Chester Zoo and Shell UK, and thanks go to local land owners David and Huw Rowlands and Stuart Arden for hosting the event.

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