Otter Project

On the 16th February Cardiff University Otter Project held a stall at the 'Be A Scientist' event in Sbarc|Spark. It was wonderful to meet some young aspiring scientists and introduce them to the Otter Project! 🦦

The original research paper that the press report is based on can be found here: doi.org/10.1098/rsos.2…

Our new paper on mitogenome sequences from otter spraint, with Sarah and Jenny as joint first authors, has been featured in an article by phys.org! Read the article here: phys.org/news/2026-03-a…

Introducing our newest member Solveig! She is a vet student from France here to learn about what we do and conduct a research project. 🦦

It was great to host Dave Groves, from the Cornwall Mammal Group, here at Cardiff University Otter Project. Dave was here to talk about otter diet, and identification of prey remains from spraint.

@WomenScienceDay Featured in the post project lead Elizabeth Chadwick, project officer and PhD student Chloe Hawthorn, PhD students Holly Hulme, Gu Jiaying and Sandra Simoes and placement students Sophie and Sandy. Thank you!! 🦦🎉

In honour of International Women and Girls in Science Day (@WomenScienceDay) we wanted to celebrate the brilliant women in our team who help make our work possible.

Sophie and Jacob ran a "Murder Mystery" activity, which allowed the families to conduct their own cause of death investigation from the resources provided. This ran alongside an overview of The Otter Project and our research, and an otter anatomy demonstration.

Last weekend, The Otter Project was invited to run a session for the "Parent Power" event at Cardiff University. The event aimed to introduce students and their parents to higher education and support widening participation.

On otters, Otter Project lead Dr Liz Chadwick talked to Fiona about what we have learned from post mortems. The podcast is an hour long and can be found here if you would like to listen to it tonal-uk.com/podcast/liz-ch….

Last year we participated in a project, 'Tonal' which focuses on issues linked to water. Fiona MacDonald (@feralpractice) has created a series of podcasts, each of which is a conversation with someone who has either a professional or personal interest in water and rivers.

❄️🎁⛄MERRY CHRISTMAS from CUOP🦦🎄🔔

NOTICE: The CUOP will be closed from 24th December until 5th January. ❄️🎄🔔Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!🎁⛄🦦

Read the full article here: theguardian.com/environment/20… Our paper on effective population size can be found here: doi.org/10.1111/eva.70…

Our research suggests that optimism about recovery should be tempered with caution - low genetic diversity may limit future population resilience.

We are happy to be featured in this article on the revival of otters in Britain, including the link to our paper on 'effective population size’.

⚠️This post includes graphic images of unborn otter kits⚠️ Recently we post mortemed a pregnant otter and found two kits. Despite being upsetting, this finding is very valuable for research including genetic analysis and chemical contaminant studies.

Thanks to the IOSF & Colchester Zoo for hosting this wonderful workshop and inviting us 🦦 😆 #otter #conservation #wildlife #eurasianotter #teamotter

This increase is likely driven by the remobilisation of PCBs from sediment sinks, and raises concerns that safety standards designed to protect top predators are not effective. For more information see cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/2984… doi.org/10.1016/j.envp…

While all otters analysed from Wales contained PCBs, the highest concentrations were found in otters from coastal, low-altitude areas.

We have a new paper out! Research has found that PCB concentrations increased in otters between 2010 and 2019. This contrasts with the declines seen in previous studies since their UK regulation in 1982.