It’s a rare thing along the Ridley Creek as an American otter was captured on a game camera.
It's something not seen in a century, a river otter along the Ridley Creek in the Pennsylvania suburbs.
Earlier this month, Newtown Square-based Willistown Conservation Trust shared video from Dec. 19, 2024, showing a North American river otter (Lontra canidensis) captured on a game camera in the Ridley Creek watershed.
"This video is the first confirmed sighting of a river otter in southeastern Chester County in over 100 years," the conservation trust wrote.
In the video the otter seems to look directly at the camera.
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Willistown Conservation Trust director of watershed protection Lauren McGrath told NBC10 that they haven't captured anymore video footage of the river otter since that December sighting, however, the landowner where the cameras were placed did see the otter swimming in a pond.
"This animal sighting is a testament to a long history of land protection and habitat improvement in this region -- river otters are incredibly sensitive and require healthy land and water in order to survive," McGrath said. "As a bioindicator species, their arrival is a signal of a strong ecosystem!"
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Now, all this otter needs is a name. McGrath said WCT has yet to name the critter.
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