Photo: Getty Images
Otters have returned to the Cleveland Metroparks for the first time in more than 100 years, and officials are hailing it an “ecological comeback.”
Wildlife Ecologist Jonathon Cepek spoke about the otters — and the significance of their reintroduction to the area — in a video shared by the Cleveland Metroparks.
“It’s not just one otter that’s passing through Cleveland Metroparks, it’s a family group of otters,” Cepek said. “It’s a female with two young that were probably born last year. Through my observations and monitoring, I’ve determined that they’ve been here for a while. So, they’re not just passing through, they’re using Cleveland Metroparks to live.”
Cepek explained that he’s been observing the otters through the past spring, using “unobtrusive” wildlife cameras to observe the animals interact in the environment.
Cepek said that otters "were gone from within Ohio’s borders by the early 1900s. Cleveland Metroparks was started in 1917, so this is the first group of otters we have that we know of verified within Cleveland Metroparks living (and) using our park…That species has been gone from Ohio because people change the landscape and over-harvest and just, impacting natural areas, and we think about the burning river and pollution.”
Cepek said seeing otters return to Cleveland Metroparks is “amazing.”
Find out more about otters here.
Watch the video here: