Animal of the Week September 10, 2012 -- An Otter For Nutkins

Oh sad times. Television legend Terry Nutkins died on September 6 after a battle with leukaemia, at the age of 66. For many people of a certain age, Terry was the gateway to an appreciation of wildlife. Joining Jonny Morris on Animal Magic in the early 1980s, Nutkins contributed to the educational entertainment perfectly pitched for a young audience, with animal facts interspersed with silly voices, clunky special effects, and appearances from Terry's pet sealion Gemini. After Animal Magic came to an end, Nutkins went on to help create The Really Wild Show which ran for 20 years and launched the career of nature punk Chris Packham.

Otter c Franco Atirador

This week's animal, in honour of Nutkins, is a creature that inspired him, and certainly left its mark, Lutra lutra (Eurasian otter). As a young man Terry spent some time living in the Scottish home of Gavin Maxwell, who is best known for writing The Ring of Brightwater, a story inspired by a smooth-coated otter he bought back from Iraq and raised as a pet. While living with Maxwell, a European otter, Edal, bit the tips off two of Nutkins' fingers, a story that although fairly gruesome became the stuff of comedy. How many people have lost fingers to an otter? And despite this amputating encounter, Terry's passion for animals was undimmed and inspired several generations.


The Eurasian otter is the most widespread of all the otter species, and can be found from Ireland in the west to south Korea in the east and from Norway in the north to Sri Lanka in the south. They are also found in parts of north Africa. This distribution is testimony to their adaptability, and they live in a range of habitats from coastal waters to mountain streams, eating fish, frogs, crustaceans, molluscs, birds, and small mammals, even small beavers.

Otterhounds

During the last century, otters declined in much of their range due to habitat loss, use of pesticides, and hunting. In the UK the otterhound was bred specifically to hunt otters, it has an excellent sense of smell and webbed feet; but the outlawing of otter hunting in 1978 has since led to the decline in the number of otterhounds, such that they are now one of the rarest registered breeds. The protection afforded to otters and the banning of the most harmful pesticides and hunting has seen a dramatic return of the otter population across the UK. Where once they were restricted to the southwest and the wilder parts of Wales and Scotland, as of 2011, otters could be found in every county of England, including greater London (in 2006 the body of a full grown male otter was found run over in Wapping). But if you are lucky enough to encounter an otter, learn from Nutkins' loss and keep your fingers to yourself.

So, anyway, I'm not normally one to be affected by celebrity passing, but this AOTW is for you Terry! So long and thanks for all the animals.