The otter has returned to the Italian Alps, in regions from which it had disappeared for decades, such as Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige, Lombardy, Liguria.
In the center it has reappeared in Lazio and Marche.
This presence is added to the southern population, which has remained vital over time, located in Campania and Basilicata as well as in Puglia, Calabria, Abruzzo and Molise.
The current estimate of the otter population in Italy remains around 800-1,000 individuals, a number still well below the minimum vital limit of 4,000-5,000.
This was revealed by the Lontra Project promoted and financed by WWF Italy, in collaboration with the University of Molise.
For approximately 18 months of investigations, the team combed hundreds of kilometers along 35 river basins in the country, including Po, Tiber, Tagliamento, Adige, Isonzo, Magra, Arno, Ombrone, Liri-Garigliano, in search of traces of presence and in particular of the so-called spraints (excrements), characteristic of the species, and by monitoring the images of the video traps.
Among the factors that favored the "return to the north" of the otter, the crossing of the borders of specimens from Austria, Slovenia and France.
The positive signals from Lazio and Marche suggest a natural expansion of otters from the bordering basins occupied by this species.
For now, however, there are no traces in Piedmont (except for a nucleus reintroduced in the Ticino Regional Park), in Tuscany, in Umbria and in Emilia-Romagna, even if in the latter case there have been some reports.
One of the hypotheses that is being monitored is the possibility that the otter also uses the sea to move from one basin to another in the peninsular part: in fact, reports of specimens stopping in ports, swimming near beaches or being sighted near to the islands.
An important role for this return is also given by the presence of protected areas created in recent years, including many WWF Oases.
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