Otters -Post Mortems Are VERY Important

 

A European otter (_Lutra lutra_) eating a fish. - Credit: Marc Baldwin

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Got involved, accidentally as is normal, in the matter of a dead otter cub in the North of England. The behaviour and its death raised concerns with the rescue involved and as they do microscopy work on hedgehog faeces they did the same with the otter cub.

To cut a long story short the rescue arranged with an Environment Agency contact to have the otter sent down to Cardiff University Otter Project.

Now the rescue sent me two microscopy photos and two video clips and I forwarded these to the excellent pathologist that carries out all the dead fox post mortems. He expressed an interest in carrying out a full diagnostic post mortem on the cub and I explained that the carcass was going to Cardiff. I learnt that Cardiff does not carry out full diagnostic PMs which I had not realised before nd are more interested in the genetic side of otters.

In fact, there is a very interesting article on that very subject:

Country-wide genetic monitoring over 21 years reveals lag in genetic recovery despite spatial connectivity in an expanding carnivore (Eurasian otter, Lutra lutra) population

Nia E. Thomas, Frank Hailer, Michael W. Bruford, Elizabeth A. Chadwick

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/eva.13505

Now, as I note, the pathologist in Bristol is top notch and far more thorough in his work than we had ever expected -in fact Cardiff has been known to ask for assists if they find anything.

Although the genetic work is very important it seems that there is little to no information on parasites, etc in otters because the work has not been carried out.

I can bore endlessly on post mortems and what we have learnt about foxes and the thing is those PMs are adding to the data because it was never carried out before -again, fox work has mainly been about DNA. With otters it is just as important to know what is going on and the general health of the population and so on.

What I am not saying is "Ignore Cardiff" -they do valuable work. What I am suggesting is that any dead otters be sent to Bristol for full diagnostic post mortems. Cardiff does not lose out in any way as they get what they need. In a way it is almost like getting constant head pains that nothing seems to stop so you get a choice to see your GP again or a neurologist (hint just in case -go for the neurologist).

The importance of seeing what is going on health wise with any population, especially one as restricted as otters, is not just going to add to what we know but help detect health issues in a local population and in some instances try to help stop those issues. Again, we are learning more and more about treating foxes in the wild without trapping, stressing, treating in a centre after a long journey then releasing than ever.

How do we treat lung worm in otters that could kill them or do we simply sit back and wait for them to die then do a post mortem and cross our fingers in the hope they will not all die off?

The emphasis is, again, on the fact that Cardiff does NOT lose out and that is very important. If I thought that sending otters to Bristol for PM would create problems and halt Cardiff's research then, however strongly I feel about the health and welfare issue here I would not suggest it. In fact, I have nothing to gain from this in case anyone wonders -I am a mammalogist specialising in canids, felids and mustelids and the last thing I want to do is jump into the otter ring.

So, please, if you find a dead otter, let me know and I can forward the details on who to contact so that we can get the post mortems and Cardiff also gets the data it needs.

And I apologise if I step on anyone's toes but I have always been hands on in wildlife work and upsetting people is not what I want to do.

https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/2684993-scientists-grow-concerned-for-the-genetic-health-of-otters-in-the-uk