{"id":789,"date":"2016-05-26T14:40:49","date_gmt":"2016-05-26T18:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/?p=789"},"modified":"2016-05-25T14:41:01","modified_gmt":"2016-05-25T18:41:01","slug":"putting-otters-in-the-clear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/?p=789","title":{"rendered":"Putting otters in the clear"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_790\" style=\"width: 263px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/?attachment_id=790\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-790\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-790\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-790\" src=\"http:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/3267376441_acdc287c0e_z-253x300.jpg\" alt=\"River otter in Lake Woodruff NWR- photo by Andrea Westmoreland. License\" width=\"253\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/3267376441_acdc287c0e_z-253x300.jpg 253w, https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/3267376441_acdc287c0e_z.jpg 540w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 253px) 100vw, 253px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-790\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">River otter in Lake Woodruff NWR- photo by Andrea Westmoreland. <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0\/legalcode\" target=\"_blank\">License<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>I spent some time this week looking into ways to get involved in otter conservation, and I\u2019ve found a number of activities which run the gamut from pressing a few buttons on your computer to spending some time hanging out in a stream. I\u2019ve divided them up into several categories- hopefully you find something that is appealing!<\/p>\n<p>You can help otters from the comfort of your desk by donating to the following organizations:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.defenders.org\/north-american-river-otter\/basic-facts\" target=\"_blank\">Defenders of Wildlife<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stlzoo.org\/give\/zooparentsprogram\/animaladoptionlist\/\" target=\"_blank\">St. Louis Zoo<\/a> both have \u2018Adopt an Otter\u2019 programs<\/li>\n<li>the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.otter.org\/Public\/\" target=\"_blank\">International Otter Survival Fund<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.himalayanotternetwork.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Himalayan Otter Network<\/a> are both working internationally on otter conservation projects<\/li>\n<li>Donations to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nfwf.org\/delaware\/Pages\/home.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">Delaware River Restoration Fund<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.penobscotriver.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Penobscot River Restoration Trust<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rrnw.org\/Home\" target=\"_blank\">River Restoration Northwest<\/a> will help create cleaner waterways for otters and lots of other creatures<\/li>\n<li>Paul Smith\u2019s College have otter habitat at their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.adirondackvic.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Visitor Interpretation Center<\/a>&#8211; you can donate and even plan a visit<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Practices in your own backyards can have an impact on river otters-<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>check out \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.zoo.org\/conservation\/help#.V0XrqeRMBNg\" target=\"_blank\">You Can Help Wildlife!<\/a>\u2019 from the Woodland Zoo<\/li>\n<li>the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.marylandzoo.org\/assets\/River-otter-North-American-3.4.15.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">info on otters and suggestions<\/a> for better ways to wash our cars<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you see a river otter, there are some people who would appreciate hearing about it:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>in the San Francisco Bay area, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.riverotterecology.org\/otter-spotter-citizen-science-project.html\" target=\"_blank\">Otter Spotter Citizen Science Project<\/a> is compiling data from as many people as possible<\/li>\n<li>the <a href=\"http:\/\/rarespecies.nebraska.gov\/portfolio\/river-otter\/\" target=\"_blank\">Nebraska Game and Parks Office<\/a> wants otter sightings as part of its Threatened and Endangered Species work<\/li>\n<li>Cardiff University\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cardiff.ac.uk\/otter-project\/found-an-otter\" target=\"_blank\">Otter Project<\/a> would like reports of dead otters in the UK<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can volunteer to help with river restoration projects that benefit otters such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/fawnriverrestoration.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Fawn River Restoration<\/a> in Indiana<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.therouge.org\/home\" target=\"_blank\">Friends of the Rouge<\/a> in Michigan<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.friendsofherringriver.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Friends of the Herring River<\/a> in Massachusetts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Or you can volunteer directly with otter researchers or rehabbers:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wildlifetrusts.org\/species\/otter\" target=\"_blank\">The Wildlife Trusts<\/a> in the UK<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sealrescueireland.org\/volunteers\/\" target=\"_blank\">Seal Rescue Ireland<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paws.org\/get-involved\/volunteer\/\" target=\"_blank\">PAWS Wildlife Center<\/a> in Washington<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flaquarium.org\/Get-Involved\/Volunteer%20Page.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">Florida Aquarium<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/brazilecojourneys.com\/014.php\" target=\"_blank\">Brazil Ecojourneys<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And remember that a large number of the options listed here involve local and regional groups, so you may find other opportunities close to you if you do a little searching. So see what you can find, and see if you can find a few river otters near you- they are great fun to watch!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I spent some time this week looking into ways to get involved in otter conservation, and I\u2019ve found a number of activities which run the gamut from pressing a few buttons on your computer to spending some time hanging out in a stream. I\u2019ve divided them up into several categories- hopefully you find something that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,121,31,3],"tags":[95,20,83,11,122,69,180,74],"class_list":["post-789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-carnivores","category-habitat-loss-and-fragmentation","category-mammals","category-mustelids","tag-aquatic-systems","tag-conservation","tag-endangered-species","tag-get-involved","tag-habitat-fragmentation","tag-habitat-loss","tag-otters","tag-restoration-projects"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=789"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":792,"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789\/revisions\/792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/practiceconservation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}