13th October 2025
One of our rewilders got in touch to share this account of how their wonderful rewilding project has provided a new home for some special creatures. To protect the site, we’ve kept this piece anonymous.
This summer two rehabilitated otters were released at our rewilding site in Yorkshire. The unrelated cubs, one male and one female, were rescued after being separated from their mothers during river spate conditions last year. They were initially taken to Ryedale Wildlife Rehabilitation at Norton before being transferred to the RSPCA’s Stapeley Grange wildlife centre near Nantwich in Cheshire. The centre covers the north of England, supporting the rehabilitation of sick, injured, orphaned and confiscated wildlife. The young otters were cared for there for more than a year during which time they grew into large, healthy adults.
Release sites must be on a healthy river system with a good food supply, suitable shelter and minimal human disturbance. As well as fish, otters feed on crustaceans, amphibians, small mammals, birds and eggs. The site must also be free of immediate dangers like roadways. Woodland with dense cover is also beneficial for providing secure resting and potential breeding habitat.
As a rewilding site we work on restoring our river, ponds, wetlands, meadows and hedges, allowing trees, shrubs and wildflowers to reseed themselves, and we try to act as proxies for missing animals. The aim is a functioning ecosystem which can support apex predators, such as otters, which in turn play a central role in maintaining biodiversity.
The RSPCA first approached us on the recommendation of another release site a couple of years ago. In July this year the RSPCA team returned for a second release and set up a temporary pen in an area of scrub and long grass at our quiet riverside site. This was created by sectioning off an area with electric fencing, and a pool and dry kennel were provided to make the otters comfortable. They also provided us with a freezer full of fish that we could defrost each day to feed them for the two weeks they were to spend in the pen to allow them to acclimatise to their new surroundings. It was an exciting day when we opened the fencing, allowing them to return to the wild and roam free once more.
Otters have a pivotal role in river ecosystems. They are apex predators, meaning they help to control the populations of species they prey upon. They can also have a dramatic impact on the invasive American mink by displacing them and in some cases, directly killing them. Otters were close to extinction in the UK in the 1960s because pesticides and polluted rivers were affecting their habitat and food sources. They were also hunted until a ban came into effect in England and Wales in 1978 and in Scotland in 1979 when they were granted legal protection. Once the pressures were removed the otter population gradually recovered and they spread naturally between river catchments into new territories. Their return to every county in the UK is a real success story, and a good indicator of improving river health.
It was a real pleasure to be entrusted with the final part of the rehabilitation of these beautiful animals. We hope they stay around so that we can see them on our webcams or even catch a glimpse for ourselves.
The RSPCA are always looking for release sites for different species. If you think that your site may be suitable, they can be contacted through their website.
Useful links:
RSPCA: Releasing wildlife after rehabilitation
Short video of one of the otters
[Image Credits: Monty Rakusen / Video Credit: YRN]