England
Suffolk

The Otter Trust

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Having successfully completed the mandate of replenishing otter populations, the Otter Trust centres are no longer open to the public.

However, we thought you might be interested to read about our 2006 visit to this lovely location.

The oldest and largest otter conservation centre in the world, The Otter Trust provides habitat for a variety of otter and wildfowl species in a lovely estate beside the River Waveny. Though otters take pride of place, there are also fallow deer, muntjac deer, curious wallabies, duck and geese to enjoy.

The Otter Trust was begun in 1971 by Philip and Jeanne Wayre. They purchased farmland on the banks of the River Waveney, on the border between Suffolk and Norfolk, and established a charitable trust with the avowed aim of providing habitat and caring for otters. Though the British otter is a partuicular concern of the Otter Trust, the trust also cares for a variety of other otters, including the Asian otter. The Trust has an ongoing system of reintroducing otters back into the wild, and this program has been credited with successfully saving otters from extinction in the Eastern counties of England.

There are three lakes at Earsham, offering habitat to a variety of waterfowl, including Egyptian and Barnacle geese. The Barnacle Geese are a special attraction at the Otter Trust, with over 200 free roaming geese making this one of the largest flocks in the UK. The geese are quite used to human visitors, and will often allow you to come quite close. We visited in May, when the geese were breeding, and it was quite astonishing to wander so freely among the nests scattered beside the path, in the underbrush, or along the banks of the lakes. A few of the male geese were noisily aggressive in warding us away if we came too close to the nest, but for the most part the nesting females seemed unperturbed by our presence.

For more information about the current status and activities of the Otter Trust, visit their website http://www.ottertrust.org.uk/.

What was it like to Visit?
See our Otter Trust Photo Gallery >>