We have now successfully held our Eurasian Otter Conservation Workshop for 2025 at Colchester Zoo, Colchester, England. The event was very well received by attendees and speakers, with 33 countries from across the distribution of the Eurasian otter represented over the two days of presentations.

John Williams

On the first day we began with a welcoming introduction from Grace before heading into “Regional Reports”, chaired by Paul Chanin. These reports were:

Otter Conservation in Europe: Success and Challenges Ahead - Anna Loy, IUCN Otter Specialist Group
The Status of Eurasian Otters in Asia - Hiroshi Sasaki, Asian Otter Conservation Society of Japan
Eurasian Otter in Central Asia: Current Status, Threat Assessment and Conservation Prospects - Aleksey Oleynikov, Zoology Institute of Kazakhstan
Otters Project in Iraq: A Step Towards Challenging Conservation - Omar Al-Sheikhly, IOSF Middle Eastern Co-ordinator
Otter Status in North Africa - Faouz Kilani, Association Tunisienne de la vie Sauvage (ATVS)

Following this we had presentations on the “Developments and Threats” for Eurasian otters, once again chaired by Paul Chanin.

National Action Plan for Eurasian Otter in France (2019-2028) - Encouraging Cohabitation with Aquaculture - Cecile Kauffmann (Coordinator of the French National Action Plan for European Otters)
Otters Culling in Austria - Andreas Kranz, Alka-Kranz
The Illegal Killing of Otters in the Czech Republic - Lukas Polednik, ALKA Wildlife
The Importance of Post Mortems for Monitoring Disease in Eurasian Otters - Liz Chadwick
Otters on the Greek Islands 2019-2024 - Graham Roberts

John Williams

And to round the first day off we had a full afternoon of discussions and presentations on “Survey Techniques and Monitoring”, chaired by Rob Raynor of NatureScot.

Estimating Otters Numbers by Surveys - Paul Yoxon, International Otter Survival Fund
From Erlinge to AI: How Novel Technologies are Revitalizing the Ancient Art of Otter Tracking - Fred Kistner, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology & Wildtrack Specialist Group
Professional Detection Dog Use in Conservation - Louise Wilson, Conservation K9 Consultancy
The Role of Citizen Scientists in eDNA Surveys - Darren Tansley, Wilder Rivers and Protected Species Manager, Essex Wildlife Trust
Is it Time to Revisit the Standard Method for Otter Surveys? - Denis Karp

Day One Gallery

Day two was attended by IOSF President, Dennis Furnell, and once again started with an introduction by Grace, before Graham Scholey chaired the morning's presentations, where the focus was on “Conservation Techniques” for the Eurasian otter. These presentations were:

Indonesian Otter (Berang-Berang Indonesia): The First Initiative for Otter Research and Conservation in Indonesia - Ferdi Andeska, Indonesian Otter Foundation
Team Otter: Education and Awareness for Children - Ben Yoxon, International Otter Survival Fund
IOSF Student Research Projects - Andy Rothwell
Rewilding Through Hospitality - Eurasian Otters Thriving at Jetwing Vil Uyana, Sri Lanka - Chaminda Jayasekara
Habitat Restoration - Belgium & Netherlands - Celine De Caluwe WWF Belgium
Reintroductions and Code of Practice for Releases - Addy de Jongh

Matt Mellor

In the afternoon the attendees and speakers took part in a short visit of Colchester Zoo, before returning indoors for presentations of Case Studies for the Eurasian otter to finish the event. These were:

DNA Metabarcoding-based Diet Diversity and Niche Partitioning Among Three Otter Species in Thailand: Habitat Management Implications for Lutra lutra, Lutrogale perspicillata, Aonyx cinerus - Pai Worata Klinsawat, Conservation Ecology Group (CEG), King’s Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Thailand
Otters Versus Gadgets: How Does Passive Sampling Compare With Sentinel Species Monitoring For Evaluation of Freshwater Pollution? - Chloe Hawthorn, Cardiff University Otter Project
Rediscovery of Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra) in Tangkulap Forest Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia - Anna Wong, Malaysian Otter Network
In Otter News: Non-Invasive Genetic Monitoring of the European Otter in Ireland - Samirah Blaauw, South East Technological University
#Sharesavvy - Animal Ethics on Social Media - Lizzy Humphries, ShareSavvy
Resident or Floater? A Genetic Capture-Recapture Study of Eurasian Otters (Lutra lutra) in Germany - Marlene Thomas, Institute of Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hanover.