While the frigid winter weather kept many Americans indoors, otters took full advantage of the snow at a Pennsylvania state park.
A video posted on the Chapman State Park Facebook page showed trail camera footage of a pair of playful otters on a particularly cold day. The animals rolled around in a blanket of snow as they moved through the forest.
"Few people are lucky enough to see otters in the wild, but those who do rarely forget the experience," the Facebook caption stated.
North American otter populations declined by 75% before 1900 due to factors like habitat degradation, human expansion, and unregulated harvesting, according to Chapman State Park. However, restoration efforts in the Northeast over the past five decades have helped with range expansion.
Now, Pennsylvania has both increasing and stable otter populations. The park referred to the resurgence of river otters as "one of the greatest success stories" of modern wildlife conservation, per CBS News.
In the United States, there are more than 1,300 endangered or threatened species, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Trail cameras are helpful tools for studying population health in various species all around the world, including rare snow leopards in China and wild beavers in England.
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Experts with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service said trail camera images help biologists make informed decisions about wildlife and habitat management. For example, biologists at the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska use cameras to study the behavior of the threatened Canada lynx.
Meanwhile, the otters at Chapman State Park in Pennsylvania have gained a lot of attention online. The trail camera footage garnered more than 110,000 views. Many Facebook users commented that they were hopeful to catch a glimpse of the creatures in real life.
"They are so adorable," one commenter wrote.
"I want to go watch them!" another commenter said.
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