SpRING 2003 No. 16

Page 6

Celtic cultures, pagan and Christian, have always had close links with the spiritual element of the natural world, a connection which today we are in danger of losing. On our modern world we can now buy a copy of the Book of Kells on a CD but we will never again be able to look at it in the same way as the artist who created it and the people who originally drew inspiration form it. Aiden Meeham concludes "... here we have a testimony to a kind of thinking that we no longer have, in which nature was a spiritual source, and spirituality a natural thing, an intensity of worship through nature – without the slightest contradiction between the two, neither one taking anything away from the other- that we can only guess at now."

Ref: Aidan Meehan in The Celtic Art Coracle Volume 1, Issue 7, 1983. I would like to thank Bronwen who spotted the otter during a visit to Dublin and brought Aidan Meehan's article to me attention.

Peter Irvine

Otters are back- It's official

The fourth Otter Survey of England (2000-2002) has been published and it confirms that otters have now made a welcome return to many parts of the country from which they were formerly absent. The survey of over 3,000 sites throughout the country was carried out by the Environment Agency and The Wildlife Trusts with support from English Nature and the water companies. Signs of otters have been found at 55% more locations than the previous survey (1991 –4) and at a massive 527% more locations than when the first was carried out in 1977-9. However it should be remembered that the 1970's were a low point in the history of the otter population in England with numbers estimated in tens rather than hundreds. The first survey showed that the only significant populations of otters remaining in England were in the South West and along the Welsh border, with small and fragmented populations in East Anglia and Northern England. Otters were absent or only sparsely distributed in much of lowland and central England.

In every one of the 12 regions and catchments into which England was divided for the survey, there had been a rise in the number of sample sites at which signs of otters were found. However, the scale of the increase of these 'positive' sites varies considerable from area to area. The largest increase in any region has been in the river network of the Trent with 20% increase in positive results since the last survey. In Contrast the Southern Region has only had an 8% increase over the same period.

Andrew Crawford, who co-ordinated the survey and wrote the published report notes 'There are significant gaps in distribution and on many river catchments otter populations are clearly at lower numbers than the potential carrying capacity of these areas... the leading edge of the recovering population is continuing to expand. This appears to be creating large areas with otter populations at low density followed by consolidation, which seems occur some years after the leading edge has passed. An increase in otter distribution cannot be directly translated into an increase in otter numbers; nethertheless, the expansion in range must reflect a significant increase in the number of otters in England's rivers and wetland's.

Alison Crofts, the biodiversity and habitats manager at the Wildlife Trusts (the national body not DWT) is less cautious and has suggested a total otter population in England of around 4,000 based on the findings of the new survey. However it is not really clear how she arrived at this figure. It is difficult to estimate the numbers of any wild mammal and in the case if the shy and elusive otter, with its potentially large territory, almost impossible. One way forward, as Andrew Crawford points out, lies in the continued development of the DNA analysis of spraint, a technique which has produced some useful results but which has not yet been perfected.

The survey technique has always remained the same with sampling taking place within alternate 50 km squares of the National grid, creating a chequer-board pattern of sampling areas throughout the country. This has meant that much of Dorset is not covered by the survey; a fact which highlights the importance of the much detailed and regular monitoring work carried out by the Dorset Otter Group.

The published survey also highlights the fact that the Wessex Region (of which Dorset is part) 'is probably one of the most important areas for otter conservation in England. It links the good otter populations of Southern and Thames Regions, the lower Severn Valley and the expanding population on the rivers of South Wales. It is essential that the otter population in Wessex region is assisted, both as a way of colonising the key areas to the north and east and also ensuring the genetic viability of the combined metapopulation. In this context it is disturbing that the re-colonisation of the Brue and Axe catchments has been so slow despite their proximity to rivers with strong otter populations and the fact that the surrounding area contains a large number of nature reserves and protected sites'. In the 1977-9 survey only two out of the151 sites visited in the Wessex Region gave positive results and this time 64 of the sites were positive, about 40% of the total.