Cardiff University Otter 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.

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 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.

What Otters Teach Us About Rivers with Dr Liz Chadwick | Tonal A visit to the globally important Cardiff Otter Project

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 www.tonal-uk.com/podcast/liz-....

Home | Tonal Tonal, by artist Feral Practice, explores the River Tone in Somerset and watery issues nationally.

Last year we participated in a project, 'Tonal' www.tonal-uk.com - which focuses on issues linked to water. Artist 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!🎁⛄🦦

Hightailing along city streets and raiding ponds: otters’ revival in Britain Still rare only 20 years ago, the charismatic animals are in almost every UK river and a conservation success story

Read the full article here:
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Our paper on effective population size can be found here:
doi.org/10.1111/eva....

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

⚠️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

Rising levels of banned toxic chemicals in otters from Wales Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) found in every otter tested by the Cardiff University Otter Project.

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 www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/29...
doi.org/10.1016/j.en...

Rising levels of banned toxic chemicals in otters from Wales Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) found in every otter tested by the Cardiff University Otter Project.

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.

Applications close on December 1st for our 2026-27 Professional Training Year Placements!

Looking for an undergraduate placement in conservation with a focus on lab work, data analysis, and anatomy?

Apply now to join the Otter Project as a research assistant and help with this important work!

A few weeks ago The Otter Project was a part of Exploring Bioscience at Cardiff University. We have enjoyed showing the students some of what we do. We went on a walk along the Taff to survey otter spraint and our lead Dr Elizabeth Chadwick performed a post mortem in person for the students.

Cyfle i ymgymryd â lleoliad gwaith yn 2026–27!

Ydych chi’n chwilio am leoliad gwaith i israddedigion ym maes cadwraeth sy’n canolbwyntio ar waith labordy, dadansoddi data ac anatomeg?

Gwnewch gais nawr i ymuno â’r Prosiect Dyfrgwn fel cynorthwyydd ymchwil a helpu gyda'r gwaith pwysig hwn!

It's time for a return to our #anatomy series, starting with the scent glands!

Photo credit: Elizabeth Chadwick

We have had the pleasure of welcoming many fantastic placement students to The Cardiff University Otter Project. They are always eager to offer their help! To all our former students: thank you so much for your hard work! We would love to catch up and hear what you're up to now.

Looking for an undergraduate placement in conservation with a focus on lab work, data analysis, and anatomy?

Our data and samples are used in a wide range of research and help guide conservation.

Apply now to join the Otter Project as a research assistant!

We are honoured to have our most recent Otter Survey Wales work featured in the Esri UK ThinkGIS magazine! (resource.esriuk.com/publications...)

After being unable to perform post-mortems since February we are finally back in the lab! The placement students have enjoyed being able to begin their lab training and we have even found some abnormalities already. Otter #4715 had a very enlarged gall bladder and gallstones.

Welcome to our final placement student Sorrel, completing our team for this year!

We would like to welcome our second placement student for this year. Sandy Huang

Otter📸: Freddie Montague

Today in celebration of #WorldRiversDay we wanted to recognise our river here in Cardiff - The River Taff, which has a supports a wide range of species including our beloved otters. World Rivers Day aims to spread awareness for rivers around the world, ensuring they continue to improve and thrive.

Wales Mammal Biodiversity Action Forum — Mammal Society WMBAF aims to strengthen and unite work to study and conserve mammals in Wales.

A new web page hosted by @mammalsociety.bsky.social aims to share links to mammal projects in Wales. Please contact us with details if you would like your project to be added to the page. The new web page can be found here: mammal.org.uk/current-rese...

Following on from our previous post about the status of mammals in Wales, we would like to highlight ‘WMBAF’. The Wales Mammal Biodiversity Action Forum is a network of individuals and organisations who work on mammals in Wales; our project lead Dr Chadwick is one of the members.
📸Ian Humphries