People heard squeaking near a stream and the answer was impossibly cute

Wales Online

2 days ago

People heard squeaking near a stream and the answer was impossibly cute
Idris weighed less than a can of pop, could not open his eyes, and is the smallest otter ever rescued by the UK Wild Otter Trust
Idris the tiny otter
(Image: UK Wild Otter Trust)
A tiny otter weighing less than a can of pop has survived against the odds after members of the public in a Welsh community heard him crying near a roadside.
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The Eurasian otter cub, weighing just 340g, was found near Bala in Gwynedd. People heard his high-pitched squeaks near a small stream with his mother nowhere to be found. It's thought she is likely to have been killed on a nearby road. At under seven weeks old the otter's eyes were still closed making his chances of survival without his mother extremely slim.
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Locals who found the otter made contact with the UK Wild Otter Trust and officers from the charity went to the scene to rescue him. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here .
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For the next few days Idris, as he has been named, was kept alive on milk until he was strong enough to make the journey to the charity's care. Under expert hands Idris was slowly weaned onto fish before being transferred to the charity's Specialist Otter Rehabilitation Centre in North Devon.
There he met two young otters close to his age. One of them had wandered into the flamingo habitat at Colchester Zoo although nobody knows quite how he got there.
'These cases are incredibly rare,' said Dave Webb, founder and CEO of the UK Wild Otter Trust, which is run entirely by volunteers. "For an otter cub so young and so underweight to survive without its mother is remarkable. Idris has shown unbelievable strength and now he has the best chance of living wild again.
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"Idris is the smallest cub we've rescued who has managed to survive so for all of us at the centre it's a real victory to see him out of the woods and thriving.'
Over the coming months Idris will undergo a long rehabilitation process, the charity added.
Idris the otter with his new friend, a teddy bear
(Image: UK Wild Otter Trust)
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The Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) is the only otter species native to the UK. It has been in the UK for millions of years and is a member of the Mustelid family, which also includes the badger, mink, weasels, stoats, martens, and polecats.
They are found as far west as Ireland, as far east as China, as far south as North Africa, and as far north as the Arctic Circle. According to the RSPCA if baby otters have their eyes closed it's because they are too young to go above ground on their own.
According to the UK Wild Otter Trust: "Otters are protected by law. It is illegal to hunt them, trap them or disturb them. The otter receives the highest protection possible as a European protected species – and its holts are protected too.
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"Unfortunately, even though the species has made a distinct comeback and is now found often in our rivers, wild otters rarely live beyond four years of age. The oldest recorded otter reached around 19 years of age but this is exceptional.
"Reports now state that otters inhabit every county in the UK – great news for the otter – but our river systems still require extensive habitat management to restore them to a healthy level that can sustain fish stocks and wildlife."