Otter Lutra lutra distribution in Poland

Abstract

In a field survey of Poland in 1991-1994, signs of otters Lutra lutra (Linnaeus, 1758) were found at 1655 (79.5%) of the 2083 investigated sites. Widespread in most of the country, otters were especially common in the lakelands (N Poland), along the western and eastern borders, and in the Karpaty/Carpathian Mts (SE Poland). Two large areas with only few positive sites were identified in Slask/Silesia (SW Poland) and central Poland. Otters inhabit the majority of large rivers in Poland, except some sections of Odra/Oder and Wista/Vistula. The dynamics of the otter population in Poland in recent decades is difficult to investigate, mainly due to the scarce questionnaire data from the sixties and seventies, however, present records suggest that the otter has extended its range, and is no longer an endangered species in Poland.