Conservation officers in Bristol first became aware of the otters after finding droppings by the city's floating harbourConservationists have captured this amazing footage of a new breed of 'urban' otter which is shunning the countryside in favour of city centres.
Researchers have discovered that the usually-reclusive water creature - immortalised in Kenneth Grahame's Wind In the Willows - are encroaching into cities.
They set up hidden cameras and captured an urban otter making a home by a floating dock in the heart of Bristol city centre - just yards from a shopping mall.
Researchers believe greater access to food is one of the main reasons for the change - just like the growth of the urban foxThe footage - the first to ever show otters in a city centre - has stunned experts who had previously believed the furry creatures were too timid to venture out of the countryside.
They believe greater access to food is one of the main reasons for the change - just like the growth of the urban fox.
Phil Quinn, an ecologist who launched the study, said: 'It is just extraordinary. They are a very thriving population.
The footage - the first to ever show otters in a city centre - has stunned experts who had previously believed otters were too timid to venture out of the countryside'There have been reports of otters in smaller cities but never in a city centre like this.
'Most ecologists working with otters would look at this situation and say - no chance.
'We were not even thinking of otters and then we just found the evidence - which is their droppings. They are very distinctive looking and very distinctive smelling things.
source: dailymail
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