River otters were extirpated in West Virginia in the mid-1900’s due to watershed pollution, habitat destruction, and unregulated harvesting. Because river otters are an apex predator in aquatic habitats in West Virginia, they help regulate ecosystem function. The WVDNR established a river otter reintroduction program in the 1980’s and 90’s in an effort to restore a native species to West Virginia. For the program, the WVDNR translocated otters from Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina to various rivers across West Virginia. The goal of this project was to release enough individuals to secure long-term population stability of river otters across the state. In 2011, the WV otter population was considered recovered enough to establish a trapping season from the first weekend in November to the end of February.
Today, the WVDNR manages the river otter population across the state with the goal of both 1) sustaining enough otters to maintain ecosystem function and 2) providing a resource for wildlife watchers and recreational trappers. One way to assess the long-term stability of a wildlife population is through population genetic research. The WVDNR has teamed up with the Wild Genomics lab at WVU to assess the current population genetic diversity and structure of these otters. These analyses will provide the WVDNR with estimates of population size, long-term population viability, and more. This project will also produce an assessment of how successful the reintroduction program was, based on whether the current WV otters show ancestry from the states from which the reintroduction project sourced them (Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina), or if WV otters instead show ancestry from elsewhere. When available, results will be summarized here.