Otter breath of fresh Aire! (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Otter breath of fresh Aire!

8:44am Wednesday 25th November 2009

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Anyone lucky enough to see an otter in the wild will admit that they are a wonderful sight, sleek and glossy as they twist and turn in the water.

And people living in Bradford don’t have to go far to be in with a chance of catching a glimpse of one of these elusive creatures. More and more otters are being spotted in and along the banks of the River Aire, and some have been caught on camera in smaller watercourses even closer to Bradford city centre.

The population increase has come partly as a result of work to improve the river and provide habitats ideally suited to the mammals.

Along a stretch from Bradford into the heart of Leeds, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, in partnership with a number of other organisations, has carried out much remedial work to encourage wildlife. The Mid-Aire Otter and River Project began in July, 2008, and concentrates on a number of sites from Dowley Gap in Bingley to Kirkstall in Leeds. It involves improving habitats, recording otter activity on the river and raising awareness.

“We are improving the riverside habitat and the Leeds-Liverpool canal corridor,” says Don Vine, the trust’s conservation officer for Leeds and Bradford. “We are working mainly on specific sites, involving landowners, local residents, businesses and other groups.”

The return of the otters can also be attributed to a change in the cleanliness of the River Aire. Historically, the water suffered from pollution and became too dirty to support its natural levels of wildlife.

“Some of the rivers flowing into the Aire, such as the River Worth, were at one time among the most heavily-polluted in the UK due to foundries along its banks,” says Don.

As pollution from industry declined, it was followed by a further threat to wildlife – the use of herbicides and pesticides. The otter was hard hit by this, as well as falling prey to hunters. Until the early 1970s, otters could be hunted legally, and many were caught in traps.

Over recent years, there have been vast improvements in water quality, which spelt a change in the otters’ fortunes.

“Now we have a clean river with wildlife returning,” says Don. “We have trout and grayling, and records of salmon as far upstream as Castleford – if it were not for the weirs, they could swim up as far as Bingley, which would be fantastic.”

Along the Aire, Don – who covers a 20-mile stretch of the river, from Skipton to Leeds city centre – leads groups of volunteers to help with the otter project, which is funded by the recycling and waste management company SITA.

“We train people to identify otter activity through droppings and tracks to enable us to build up a picture of the main otter sites along the river.

“We link with the West Yorkshire Ecology biodiversity recording sites, which holds habitat and species records from both formal surveys and informal recording. All the information is collated to give a picture of otter activity across Yorkshire.”

Volunteers hail from groups such as the Home Learners’ Network (children taught at home) and Bradford Motor Education Project. A number of people also act as recorders, each adopting a section of river or canal and regularly walk along it looking for signs of otter activity.

At certain locations, motion-sensitive cameras have been set up. Amazingly, earlier this year, an otter was caught beside a watercourse near Bradford City Centre. “Otter families cover enormous territories which can stretch up to 20km along a river. They will focus on a certain area and then move on,” explains Don. “So you may not record one along a stretch for a long time and then, suddenly, there will be evidence of their presence.” This could include tracks and droppings – known as ‘spraint’.

Around six artificial holts, or dens, have been built along the mid-Aire by the trust, in partnership with local organisations. “It is difficult to tell whether they are, or have been used,” says Don.

“There is so much vegetation around them, and we don’t want to disturb any otters that may be there. But one of the cameras which recorded a sighting is close to a holt, which could indicate that it was being occupied.”

Holts need to be sited in areas with relatively undisturbed vegetation cover as the largely nocturnal animals need cover during the day.

Don helps to raise awareness of the otter project through presentations to schools and local groups. “We are improving habitats across the board, but the otter is the focus,” he adds.

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