Eurasian otter in Polissia
Lutra lutra
Red Data Book of Ukraine: not evaluated
The otter is a supple animal with an elongated body, short webbed legs, a tail thick at the base and a flat head. Its fur is dark brown and glossy, lighter on the throat and chest. The otter is an excellent diver and can swim underwater for a long time.
The otter keeps to the banks of clean rivers, lakes and oxbows with fish and overgrown shores. In Polissia it is found on the Prypiat, Stokhid, Sluch, Horyn, Teteriv and Desna, in Shatsk National Park and in the Polissia and Rivne reserves.
It feeds mainly on fish, and also on frogs and crayfish. It is active at dusk and at night, so the animal itself is rarely seen. Signs of an otter are five-toed tracks with webbing, fish remains on the bank and “slides” – worn paths the animals use to slip into the water or snow.
The otter is listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine. Its main threats are river pollution, poachers' nets in which it drowns, and the destruction of bankside vegetation. By keeping riverbanks wild, we keep the otter too.
When to see: all year; in winter, tracks and “slides” in the snow and near ice holes
Where it was seen in Polissia
Observations from the open scientific database GBIF since 1990. Locations are shown approximately, to within 10 km.
More in “Mammals”
European bison
Europe's largest land mammal. In Polissia it lives in the Tsuman Forest, the Zubr reserve and Zalissia National Park, and enters the Chornobyl zone.
European badger
A nocturnal dweller of Polissia's pine and mixed forests, known for multi-entrance setts that are several decades old.
Wild boar
The wild pig of Polissia's forests and floodplains, whose signs – rooted-up earth and mud wallows – are found almost everywhere.
Roe deer
A small, graceful deer of Polissia's forest edges and fields, most easily met at dawn on the edge of the woods.