Public urged to otter a word on nature’s Scarlet Pimpernel

An otter on the hunt on the River Bride, Co Cork. Picture: Chris Moody

They seek them here, they seek them there — the public has been asked to get their detective hats on to spot one of Ireland’s most beloved but elusive creatures, the otter.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has teamed up with researchers at Queen’s University Belfast and the National Biodiversity Data Centre in order to survey the number of otters in Ireland but needs help from people across the country to do so.