Otters

The Northern American river otter is found throughout North America(yellow region in Map), inhabiting inland waterways and coastal areas in Canada, Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, the Atlantic states, and the Gulf of Mexico. River otters also currently inhabit coastal regions throughout the United States and Canada. In the United States, the otters are present in states bordering the Great Lakes, Atlantic Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico. North American river otters also inhabit the forested regions of the Pacific coast in North America. The species is also present throughout Alaska, including the Aleutian Islands, and the north slope of the Brooks Range. However, urbanization and pollution instigated reductions in range area.[1] Otter populations are scarce or locally extinct throughout much of the eastern, central, and southern United States.[15] The river otters are now absent or rare in Arizona, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia.