Resurgent river otters loving life in Kensington, says watershed group

River otters are continuing to make a resurgence on P.E.I. — and they seem to enjoy Kensington as a place to call their home.

"They've got the beach, they've got the stream systems, they're very central, and clearly they're loving it," said Virginia Everett, executive director of the Kensington North Watershed Association.

The group is tracking river otters with trail cameras for the second summer in a row. So far they have seen at least five. 

Due to hunting and habitat loss, river otters were presumed extinct on the Island since the early 1900s.  

Garry Gregory, a wildlife biologist with the province, said river otters have been making a comeback in the last five or six years.

"They can certainly disperse through and across ocean water or seawater and that could account for the otters on P.E.I. right now because we do have them in our neighbouring provinces across the Northumberland Strait," he said in an interview with CBC's Island Morning.

The otters on P.E.I. are exclusively river otters, which look like mink but are much larger.

Population difficult to estimate

Without a more targeted market capture program, it's difficult to estimate the number on P.E.I., Gregory said.

"What we do know is that there appears to be a persistent but probably small river otter population in the Kensington area based north of Kensington towards Darnley."

Anyone who spots a river otter can report it to the provincial Department of Fish and Wildlife 902-368-4683 or submit the sighting to www.peinaturetracker.ca.

"Hopefully going forward more watershed groups and government as well will expand and try to get to all points of the Island, because although we know they're coming back in this area, we're not sure about some of those other locations," Everett said.

Watching for babies

It could take decades to establish a viable population. It will come with some adjustments, Everett said, because they feed on fish, small birds and other wildlife.

But she said it's "a great thing" to see a species come back, and the group will be looking for signs of breeding.

"We have not seen any any really small babies so I would think that would be exciting for sure just because that does show us that, OK, we are going forward. These otters aren't just here temporarily, you know,  they're making this their home and they're staying for the long term again."