Under the silvery reflections of the rivers and the murmurs of the marshes, the European otter, with its silky coat, only shows its face at rare moments. Difficult to observe, it is nevertheless present in Belgium, and particularly in the province of Luxembourg. But if it’s obvious to us, why do the otter feel so comfortable with us?
Hunted by man
Practically extinct in Belgium due to water pollution, destruction of its habitat and hunting, it is gradually returning thanks to conservation efforts since the 1990s. “It was a common species in Belgium a long time ago, then it practically disappeared, explains Vinciane Schockert, qualified ‘mammal expert’ at DEMNA (Department for the study of the natural and agricultural environment/SPW). She remains in danger ever since, but the situation is improving. Once it was protected (Editor’s note: 1979), it was necessary to restore its natural habitat and drastically improve the quality of the rivers to encourage its return.” The province of Luxembourg has heard the call: in 30 years, the cleanliness of its rivers has made a spectacular leap, benefiting many species.
2012: a key year
After a few timid reappearances in the early 2000s, it made a marked return in 2012, first in the Scheldt valley, then in Flanders and… in the province of Luxembourg. Victory: an otter is filmed by a surveillance camera in the Haute-Sûre and Anlier forest natural park, marking a historic moment for the region. Since then, regular sightings have been reported, indicating a gradual reestablishment of the species which is difficult to quantify, since it lives at night. “It has adapted to humans like many species; it is an animal that needs tranquility. Add to that the low number of individuals: its sightings are rare.”
The Semois, its paradise
And if the province of Luxembourg is, along with all the watersheds in the south of the country, so conducive to the return of the otter, it is because it ticks all the boxes. First, that of space. “Its home range extends from 10 to 40 km along waterways, so it needs large, calm spaces with lots of hiding places, which is becoming rarer with the fragmentation of habitats. An otter evolves between the bank and the river, hides and rarely sleeps in the same place.”
And according to the WWF, with its 198 km, the Semois could well be the most welcoming river in the country, closely followed by the Ourthe basin.
Next she needs fish. Lots of fish. “Around 50 kg of fish per hectare, which is the case in the south of the country, little else. It is mainly on the Semois, the Lesse, the Our and the Ourthe that we observe traces of its passage, because these rivers are very rich in fish; We are therefore working to make them real biodiversity paradises, in particular, at the SPW, through work to identify and improve potential shelters along the waterways.” The SPW is currently working on inventorying 1,300 km of riverbank.
An otter province?
If the figures are difficult to obtain given the difficulty of observation, in 2019 the Belgian otter population was estimated at around thirty, almost half of which would be in the province of Luxembourg. “The next estimates should arrive by the end of the year, we are hard at work across the country.”
Until then, let’s continue to keep our rivers and natural spaces clean, and make the province of Luxembourg the new otter country!
