River Otter Management and Policy

Defenders of Wildlife is a member of New Mexico Friends of River Otters, a broad-based coalition formed to implement a strategy to promote the restoration of the river otter to the rivers of New Mexico. After years of effort, the group achieved an important goal when the New Mexico Game Commission directed the Department of Game and Fish on August 24, 2006 to proceed with plans to reintroduce river otters to sections of the upper Rio Grande and the upper Gila River and that the reintroductions should occur in the Fall of 2007.

Defenders and other members of  New Mexico Friends of River Otters spoke in favor of the proposal and we’re very pleased with the decision. Read the Department's Press Release. Thanks to all of our New Mexican activists who responded to our alert and wrote to the commission. The strong public support for reintroduction played an important role in the Commission's decision. We’re currently working with the state to make reintroduction a reality.

In addition to our participation with New Mexico Friends of River Otters, Defenders has sponsored surveys of several river drainages to determine if any remnant otter populations exist. We also developed an economic analysis of the benefits associated with restoring river otter populations (PDF).