Workshops at Puljane: development of an otter monitoring programme

Workshops at Puljane: development of an otter monitoring programme
The Institute for Environmental and Nature Protection organised the workshop “Development of an otter monitoring programme”, held on Friday 10 March 2023 at the Krka Eco Campus in Puljane

The workshop was part of the Service provision contract “Development of monitoring programmes for species and habitat types of EU interest” within the OPCC project “Development of a monitoring system of the state of species and habitat types”, Procurement group 7: Drafting and developing a monitoring programme for otter with capacity building for stakeholders in the monitoring and reporting system. The workshop was held by Oikon d.o.o. – Institute for Applied Ecology and was intended for the staff of legal persons involved in water management – Croatian Waters, staff of public institutions for nature protection (nature parks, national parks, county institutions) in areas where otter is known to be present, fishers and fishing societies, civil society NGOs for nature protection, authorised recovery centres for wild animals, hunting federation and hunting grounds keepers, and the interested public.

The Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra L. 1785) is a carnivore in the marten family that is adapted for life in freshwater. It is considered the best swimmer among the terrestrial carnivores. This exceptionally shy and timid animal leads a solitary life, and is primarily active by night. It leaves recognisable paw prints in the wet mud, and is often known to change its living area and pass long distances between suitable water bodies. The best otter habitat is a clean watercourse more than 5 m wide and at least 15 to 20 km long, rich in shoreline vegetation and connected to other watercourses. Today, the Krka and Čikola Rivers are among the last Mediterranean otter habitats.

In Croatia, the otter has been protected since 1972 under the Act on the Protection of Rare and Endangered Species. It was included into the Red Book of Endangered Animals in Croatia (Mammals) in 1994, and is listed as endangered at the European level.