SCOTLAND’S OTTER population is thriving—and that’s official.

A new investigation into otter numbers shows the population has recovered following serious declines in central and south-eastern areas in the 1960s and 1970s.

The report, compiled by Scottish Natural Heritage, was published yesterday.

The survey, which focused on 1376 sample sites across the country, discovered positive traces of otters at 1267 locations (92.08%).

The two-year investigation has confirmed the animal is thriving over the whole of Scotland in both coastal and freshwater sites.

There are believed to be around 8000 otters spread across virtually every part of the country.

There have been recent sightings of otters in Dundee, while a female has reared at least one litter in the centre of Perth in recent years.

The report shows that all of Scotland’s large urban areas now have signs of otters thanks to improvements in water quality, which have helped create sustainable otter habitats through increasingly healthy fish stocks and more varied biodiversity.

The SNH report concludes the otter can now be considered ubiquitous throughout Scotland—even in urban watercourses highly disturbed by human activity.

Rob Raynor of SNH said, “Our research shows otters have continued their recovery from the declines in the 1960s and 1970s. They have now recolonised the last remaining parts of SE Scotland from where they were absent for several decades.”