Wildlife Commission downlists river otter
from endangered to threatened status

By Todd Malmsbury

The Colorado Wildlife Commission downlisted the river otter from “endangered” to “threatened” on the state’sprotected species list this fall, marking the success of the Division of Wildlife’s (DOW) efforts to recover the species. Greg Walcher, Executive Director of the Department of Natural Resources, called the downlisting a victory for Colorado.

“We have known for some time that Colorado’s river otter population has shown a strong recovery that warrants a downlisting, and I am proud of the experts at the DOW who have made this happen,”  said Walcher. “The future of land management and the health of wildlife populations in Colorado will hinge on the ability of states to recover endangered species, and this is a great step toward that goal.”

Otters, natives that once inhabited many of Colorado streams, were last recorded in the state in the early 1900s. DOW biologists began working to recover the species in 1976 and have released more than a hundred into streams from Rocky Mountain National Park to the Dolores River in southwestern Colorado.

“All of the information we have collected supports a designation of threatened rather than endangered,”  said Larry Nelson, the DOW’s species conservation manager. “The river otter has expanded its range from the five release sites and now meets the criteria for threatened status.”

Species listed as endangered no longer inhabit the state or exist in such small numbers they could disappear within a short period of time. The threatened designation still provides full protection for the species, but signifies that their status is less precarious.

The DOW’s otter recovery plan specifies that the species should be downlisted to threatened when there are at least three separate, self-sustaining populations in the state. The DOW survey found populations on the Green, Gunnison, Piedra, and Colorado rivers over the past two years.

“We have a long way to go before the species is fully recovered, and we’re going to continue to work toward that goal,”  Nelson said. P