Lutra alpina project and otter book “A secret hunter returns”
While otters were still extinct in Switzerland at the beginning of the noughties, otters were living again in the northern Limestone Alps of Styria, in a cultural landscape with partly intensive use of streams and rivers.
How the otters cope in such habitats, what demands they make on their habitat and retreats, and how they overcome the unavoidable barriers was researched in the Lutra alpina project as part of biologist Irene Weinberger’s dissertation at the University of Zurich. Between 2010 and 2013, 9 otters were intensively monitored with telemetry. This enabled important findings to be obtained on their hunting habitats and daily hiding places, which can now be applied to the return of the otters in Switzerland.
In the richly illustrated book “Der Fischotter – ein heimlicher Jäger kehrt zurück” (The otter – a secret hunter returns), Irene Weinberger and Hansjakob Baumgartner report on the astonishing comeback of this impressive wild animal, on the history of its extinction and return, its biology and ecology.
- Organisation: Pro Lutra Foundation, Switzerland
- Website: www.prolutra.ch
- Project management: Dr. Irene Weinberger, Quadropoda, Managing Director of the Pro Lutra Foundation
