Caught on camera . . there's another otter in Leith water

THE Water of Leith has a new resident - and it has been caught on camera for the first time.

The otter who took up residence four years ago has given birth to a cub, to the delight of local residents.

The trust that looks after the conservation of the river says the new arrival is a good sign for the health of the river's eco-system.

The shy youngster was snapped recently, but anyone wanting to catch a glimpse may have to be prepared for a long wait.

Water of Leith Conservation Trust manager Helen Brown said staff noticed a few months ago that the otter was showing signs of motherhood.

"She would hunt at a certain time of day and feed voraciously and then disappear again," she said.

"She was doing that for around three or four weeks, and then we had an ecologist here on a training course who was out along the river, who spotted the mother encouraging the young to go for probably one of its first swims."

Ms Brown estimated that the cub is between two and a half and three months old, but hadn't come across the father.

Although otters were forced out of Edinburgh almost 30 years ago by a combination of pollution, waste dumping and development along the river banks, Ms Brown said the fact that the female was producing babies was a good indication that the river's ecology was in good shape.

She said: "Otters are top of the food chain, so if you're sustaining an otter population then that shows that the food chain is good, from the plant life to the invertebrates to the fish and then up to the otter."

Unlike coastal inhabitants, river otters are solitary animals who need 20 miles of territory to make their home, and the Water of Leith's 24 miles proved a perfect place for the female to take up residence.

Ms Brown added that female's presence is also an indication that the river's mink population isn't too out of hand.

She said: "An otter will tolerate mink in its territory if they're not competing too strongly for resources. So in a way, having an otter resident is a good controlling factor for the levels of mink population."

The female is likely to keep the cub with her for six months, allowing plenty of opportunities to observe the pair.

"People have had chance encounters along the river," said Ms Brown. "About three months ago it was in the basin down in Leith, literally where all the boats and restaurants are, playing with a Coke can.

"So she can be anywhere on the river so the message is, take your camera with you and if you're lucky, don't draw attention to yourself and they will continue their behaviour around you."