River Otters Native To Ohio

Welcome to the temporary website of the ohio department of natural resources.
River otters native to ohio. The division s temporary website has some of our most popular features available but not everything that used to be available online. As a result the ohio division of wildlife quietly has begun to test the public waters about establishing a limited trapping season to control otter numbers where their growing numbers soon may be. We are developing a new dynamic and user friendly website that won t be ready until late summer. In the 1980 s a project was started to reintroduce these animals back into the rivers of ohio.
River otters are native to ohio and were abundant centuries ago but they started to disappear from ohio as early as the 1900s due to hunting and habitat changes. River otters sort of super size mink that once disappeared from ohio have been almost too successful since their reintroduction 18 years ago. Along the southern shore of western lake erie not only have they been seen in cedar point but ottawa national wildlife refuge located just 15 miles east of toledo magee marsh wildlife area and the toussaint river. Although river otters are native to ohio hunting and habitat destruction had just about wiped them out by the 1900s.
The north american river otter lontra canadensis also known as the northern river otter or common otter is a semiaquatic mammal endemic to the north american continent found in and along its waterways and coasts. River otters are native ohio furbearers once common throughout the state. In the area of ohio where heartland is located the amount of river otters is estimated to be low to rare. Ohio means beautiful river in native american and when the native americans saw the ohio river they called the area ohio.
Throughout the twentieth century ohio waterways started to bounce back and in 1986 the division of wildlife decided to reintroduce otters to the state. The river otter is protected and insulated by a thick water repellent coat of fur. Asked in endangered vulnerable and threatened species. An adult north american river otter can weigh between 5 0 and 14 kg 11 0 and 30 9 lb.
River otter sightings have occurred annually for more than 10 years from cedar point south to darby ohio near columbus.