Otters make return to New Mexico waters

Organizers hope reintroduction of species can help restore river ecosystems

Staci Matlock | The New Mexican

10/14/2008 - 10/15/08

Otters are playing in New Mexico waters again after disappearing from the state 60 years ago.

Five river otters trapped and transported from Washington state were released Tuesday morning in the Rio Pueblo de Taos on Taos Pueblo land. The first otter out of a holding pen and into the Rio Pueblo "was a very energetic, large male," said Rachel Conn of the nonprofit Amigos Bravos. "He gave us quite a show. Later we saw he and a female swimming upstream."

Conn said the three male and two female otters seemed comfortable with their new environs. "They were well fed, fattened up with fish. And the weather was very Washingtonesque, drizzling rain."

River otters once roamed New Mexico waters widely in the upper and middle Rio Grande, the Gila, Mora, San Juan and Canadian river systems. Habitat loss and decades of trapping decreased their numbers; the last confirmed sighting in New Mexico was 1953. The social, playful, semiaquatic otters are members of the weasel family. Biologists consider otters an important part of restoring natural river ecosystems.

Tuesday's project to reintroduce the otters was coordinated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services and Taos Pueblo. Organizers hope ultimately to release 20 to 30 otters along the river. The state Department of Game and Fish, U.S. Bureau of Land Management and New Mexico Friends of River Otters helped with the project. "This was a great example of a collaborative effort," Conn said.

"The Taos Pueblo War Chief's Office is proud to have worked with all the other agencies on this project," said War Chief Luis Romero, whose office manages all natural resources on the pueblo. Romero said the efforts of one individual in particular, Darren Bruning of USDA, had made the project possible. Bruning used to work for the pueblo's natural-resource office and was the first to suggest reintroduction on pueblo land.

It costs about $1,000 per otter to pay for trapping and transporting them, according to Amigos Bravos.

Twenty states — among them Arizona, Colorado and Utah — have successfully reintroduced river otters.

In 2006, the State Game Commission directed the Department of Game and Fish to initiate efforts to restore otters to state waters. A game department study identified several rivers as suitable restoration sites, including the Upper Rio Grande, White Rock Canyon and Middle Rio Chama in the Rio Grande Basin; and the Upper Gila, Lower Gila and Lower San Francisco rivers in the Gila River Basin.

"Today's release is a positive first step in an effort to return otters to watersheds across the state," said Bruce Thompson, director of the state Department of Game and Fish.

A second, larger river otter release is scheduled in November on the main stem of the Upper Rio Grande.

Romero said it was important to bring the otters back because "they are a vital part of the ecological system. We're trying to restore something that had a purpose here."

"After eight years of work (on the reintroduction), this was an exciting morning," Conn said.

Contact Staci Matlock at 470-9843 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.