A man was recently traveling down a busy street in the English town of Shrewsbury when he spotted a box on the side of the road. When he went to investigate the contents of the box, he was floored by who he found inside: two baby otters, huddling together for warmth.
While it’s unfortunately not uncommon to come across abandoned cats or dogs, finding two otters in a cardboard box is unheard of. The man sprang into action and got them to a wildlife rescue center as quickly as he could.
When the cubs arrived at Cuan Wildlife Rescue, they were terrified. They both weighed less than 5 pounds and were soaking wet from having been left out for hours in the rain.
Cuan Wildlife Rescue fed the babies and got them warmed up before transferring them to long-term otter rehabilitation center UK Wild Otter Trust (UKWOT).
“When the otter cubs arrived with us, they were quiet, obviously scared, and withdrawn,” Hatty Brady, UKWOT communications officer, told The Dodo.
“[W]e were outraged that anyone could dump these two tiny and defenseless animals, who, without their mum and locked in a box, wouldn’t have survived alone for much longer,” Brady said.
Thankfully, though, in the days since the otters arrived at UKWOT, they’ve already been doing much better.
@cuanwildlifeuk OTTER CUBS! 🦦❤️ A very rare one for us! These two Otter cubs (Lutra lutra) were found dumped on the side of the road early morning of Wednesday 9th October 2024 close to Sleap (SY4). They were in a cage with a note on the top for someone to call us to rescue them. Luckily they were found by a local man who got them to safety so we were able to rush out to get them! It is unclear how long they had been out there, especially as the weather was awful that night. They were both underweight, lethargic and soaking wet! We got them settled in, warmed up and they started eating well. They have now been transferred to a special Otter rehab facility, the UK Wild Otters Trust, where they will continue to grow and be released again as sadly we do not have the facilities to keep Otters long term! ❤️ It is illegal to kill, injure or take Otters, as well as other animals, from the wild under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The condition these otters were found in also goes against many animal welfare laws too. Our local Rural Crimes officer has been made aware and an investigation is taking place. If you know anything about this, even if you drove past and can give a time when you saw them, please do not hesitate to give us/rural crimes a call. Please share. Thank you! BBC Shropshire Shropshire Star Shropshire What’s On TelfordLive Shropshire Police Shropshire Wildlife Trust #otters #otter #ottercubs #ukmammals #mammal #britishmammals #mustelid #ruralcrime #shropshirecrime #ottercub #environment #britishwildlife #wildliferehab #wildlife #nature #wildliferehabilitation #wildlifecharity #saveourspecies #animals #conservation #wildlifeconservation #cuanwildlife #ukwildlife #shropshire ♬ Magic (Instrumental) – Jon Worthy
“They’re still quite fearful now, but they’re heading in the right direction, and you can see their little personalities starting to come out,” Brady said.
As UKWOT continues caring for the babies, they’ll slowly grow bigger, get stronger and learn all the skills they need to thrive in their natural habitat. And they’ll have each other’s backs the whole time.
“Being two of them, it makes it easier and more likely that they’ll be successfully rehabilitated as they have each other to grow with and explore their natural otter instincts with,” Brady said.
In about a year, UKWOT will release the siblings into the wild, where they belong. By then, the scary circumstances they were rescued from will be nothing more than a distant memory.