Following the re-emergence of rare mammals that had left the area decades ago, residents in the United Kingdom couldn't help but show up in droves just to get a look at the elusive creatures.
As explained by Digital Camera World last month, a trail camera set up by a nature enthusiast captured sightings of otters in the South East England county of Oxfordshire along the River Windrush. The discovery came a month after residents of Bath, Somerset, "flocked to the city center to get a glimpse of reported otters along the River Avon, and near the famous Pulteney Bridge."
According to Digital Camera World, otters had "all but disappeared from English waterways between the 1950s and 1970s due to increased water pollution caused by the dumping of harmful chemicals. It was noted that trail camera footage "has been an essential part of social media campaigns to popularize and protect otters, and helped lead to a ban of these harmful chemicals."
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Definitely 🥰 The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) assesses otter populations along 95 sections in the middle and lower areas of the River Windrush every three years and found "conclusive evidence of otters" in 49 of those sections (51%).
The return of these creatures to the area provides hope that English waterways are becoming cleaner and more inhabitable for multiple species.
"Otters are apex predators (living at the top of the aquatic food chain), and therefore their presence is an indicator of a healthy ecosystem, including enough prey," Lucy Stoddart, BBOWT's mammal project field officer, told Digital Camera World. "Otters are highly charismatic and inquisitive animals, often appearing to play for the sheer fun of it, including sliding down banks and playing tag. If you manage to catch a glimpse of these delightful creatures you're very lucky."
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This discovery is an example of how trail cameras can be essential tools in monitoring population health and implementing conservation efforts. In other instances, they can record footage of elusive and endangered species in their natural habitats without disturbing them.
Animals like the Canada lynx or the Javan rhinoceros have been discovered on trail cameras to not only be surviving, but thriving thanks to the ongoing conservation fight. Helping wildlife ensures more species survive, which greatly impacts humans through our food supply.
"Over the last decade, millions of people around the world have become aware of the camera trap," the World Wide Fund for Nature says of trail cameras, per Digital Camera World. "The candid images and videos that camera traps produce have been featured in countless documentaries, are widely shared on social media, and have been the focus of hugely popular citizen science projects."
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