More than 20 otter cubs rescued after flooded rivers wash their homes away
More than 20 otter cubs have been separated from their parents by heavy rainfall this year.
Sustained wet weather in January, February and March caused rivers across the country to burst their banks, forcing many otters to find drier ground.
Dave Webb, founder of the UK Wild Otter Trust in Umberleigh, Devon, said the charity had rescued 11 cubs in March alone.
He explained: "Even though otters are a semiaquatic mammal, when the rivers are in flood and extremely fast-flowing, that's obviously an issue for them.
"They don't like expending unnecessary effort so we see them moving inland towards fishing lakes and ponds.
"If a female has cubs and she decides to move them because of the water levels, there's a possibility that they're going to get separated and the cubs are going to get washed away."
Otters mainly feed on fish - particularly eels and salmonids - waterbirds, amphibians and crustaceans.
They have their cubs in underground burrows, known as "holts", and the young are swimming in the water by 10 weeks of age.
Mr Webb explained that, while a few families manage to reunite after the floods subside, many do not, and some of the cubs rescued in March were found alone on a riverbank.
The UK Wild Otter Trust looks after individuals from across the country, from Cumbria to Cornwall.
When it was founded in 1998, it typically rescued four or five otters a year. Now, that number could easily be above 30.
"This year, could we have more in? Last year we had 32, so at the moment it's looking extremely possible.
"And of course, there are far more that get displaced than we know about. It's a national issue with rivers flooding due to this weather we've been having.
"It affects their food supply, their prey base, so there are lots of other consequences. It's not just otters, lots of other wildlife are affected as well.
"Everything's suffering because of this, which is down to global warming and the state of the rivers," Mr Webb said.
He added that, in the South West, otters typically tended to be rescued from the Tor and Fowey floodplains.
"But every river will have this problem at some point, and it's something we shouldn't be complacent about.
"Otters are known for being very adaptable, but living with fast-flowing water all the time can be problem.
"Their natural home is the rivers and if it's continually under water they're going to move inland to fishing lakes. The young will drown and the reproduction rate will suffer.
"Pollution in the rivers doesn't help either, combined with flash flooding, it's a recipe for disaster in my eyes," Mr Webb said.