WWF seeks individual reviews of otter culls in Upper Austria

Austria’s WWF wants authorities to assess every proposed otter cull individually, warning that blanket permits in Upper Austria could breach EU species protection rules, ORF reported.

Upper Austria allows up to 51 otters to be killed each year, the third-highest quota in the country. The WWF estimates that about 651 otters live in the state, giving it Austria’s third-largest population after Styria and Lower Austria. The estimates come from surveys conducted in different years. Nationwide, the organisation puts the population at nearly 4,000.

Only Carinthia, with a quota of 55, and Lower Austria, with 50, have similar annual authorisations. Across four federal states, up to 186 otters can be killed each year without an authority reviewing each case individually, the WWF said.

The conservation group also says current rules lack sufficient safeguards for females and their young. It is calling for damaged rivers to be restored and fish ponds to be better protected.

Road traffic is also a major threat to otters, according to the WWF, but those deaths are not included in the states’ cull quotas. The organisation says further killings could have a particularly serious effect because otters reproduce slowly.