On the territory of the "Dniprovsko-Orilsky" nature reserve, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, during the expedition, traces of a red-billed river otter were discovered.
This was reported by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine.
Specialists said that the otter became an object of hunting because of its valuable fur, which is why it was included in the Red Book of Ukraine in 2009. According to experts, the population of this animal in the reserve is small, so it is very rare to find such traces.
The Ministry of Environment said that the otter is a predator. It belongs to the marten family. The length of the animal's body can reach 1 m, and the weight – 6-10 kg.
It is a semi-aquatic animal with a streamlined body, short webbed feet and thick fur that protects it from water. The entrance to the otter's burrow is usually underwater, and it arranges temporary shelters among coastal thickets or tree roots.
In April, EcoPolitic reported that in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast there is a Dnipro-Orilsky Reserve rare and red-listed birds have returned , in particular, white-eyed blacks. They were noticed by scientists during research in the Obukhiv floodplain and on the reservoirs of the Tarom escarpment.
We also reported that a fire broke out on the territory of the Nizhny Dniester National Nature Park, near the village of Nadlymanske, Odesa Oblast deprived hundreds of animals from their homes and caused damage to the environment for more than 890 million hryvnias.
