22/08/2026
Look who's back after about 100 years 🦦💛
A motion-activated camera along New York City's Bronx River recently captured a North American river otter — believed to be the first one documented in the Bronx section of the river since the early 1900s. The surprise appearance comes after decades of work by community groups, conservationists and public agencies to clean up the once heavily polluted river and restore wildlife habitat.
River otters depend on healthy freshwater habitats, so researchers say the sighting is an encouraging sign for the river's recovery. Beavers also returned to the Bronx River in 2007 after being absent for more than 200 years. Scientists caution that one otter doesn't necessarily mean a population has moved in — but after a century without a documented sighting, it's a pretty exciting visitor.
