OTTER POPULATION HEALTHY AFTER 1ST SEASON OF TRAPPING

JEFFERSON CITY -- Early data from the 1996-97 trapping season paint a picture of increase -- increasing fur harvests, increasing fur prices and increasing numbers of furbearers, including two species that are of special interest to wildlife conservationists in Missouri and around the world.

During the 1996-1997 season, Missouri's 4,500 licensed trappers presented 1,040 otters for tagging by conservation agents. Early figures showed Missouri's 1996-'97 bobcat harvest at 1,235, with reports from three key counties still pending. The number of bobcat pelts checked by conservation agents is up from 1,198 in 1995, which was the previous record for Missouri.

The prices Missouri pelts commanded were up, too. Examples included beaver, which jumped from $5 at auctions in 1995 to $11.53 last year and reached $17.57 this year. Raccoon pelts that brought only $6 two years ago climbed to $13.80 last year and averaged $19.95 this year. The price for otter pelts averaged $40.25 this year.

These prices and the increased number of furbearers taken by Missouri trappers reflect increased interest in fur garments in Europe and Asia following two cold winters. It is likely to translate into further increases in Missouri trapping activity.

Missouri's trapping season for most furbearer species opened Nov. 20 and closed Jan. 20. The season for trapping coyotes ended Feb. 15. Beaver trapping will continue through March 31. Much of the season's data already are in on the otter and bobcat harvests, and Missouri Department of Conservation furbearer biologist David Hamilton has been examining those numbers closely.

River otters are of particular interest here because the MDC completed a restoration program for the species five years ago. Also, river otters and bobcats are among four North American furbearers regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. The treaty, known as CITES, is designed to prevent the decline of animal populations that might otherwise be imperiled by the pressures of international trade. Otters and bobcats are not imperilled here, but are regulated because they look like species in the world that are.

In Missouri, trappers who take bobcats or otters are required to present the pelts to conservation agents for examination and tagging. Besides protecting these and similar-looking species from unregulated trade, the tagging requirement provides information that is valuable to Hamilton and other MDC officials who are responsible for ensuring that the legal harvest of otters and bobcats does not lead to the species' decline.

Hamilton said it is unlikely that Missouri trappers took more otters than they showed to conservation agents. It is illegal to sell the animals in the United States without tags, and it is illegal to sell them in other CITES member countries, which include virtually every other nation where the pelts could be turned into marketable products. "Without a tag, an otter or bobcat pelt is virtually worthless," said Hamilton.

Information that the MDC has learned from harvested otters provides evidence that the agency was cautious in assessing Missouri's otter population and how it might be affected by an open trapping season. That information includes facts about otters' pregnancy and birth rates and the places where trappers caught otters.

Trappers voluntarily brought in more than 300 otter carcasses for examination so biologists could gather biological information. As expected, about half these animals were females. Hamilton and other research biologists found a pregnancy rate that was 50 percent higher than estimated when constructing a computer model of the species' population dynamics in Missouri. They also found an average of 3.2 young developing in each female. That is 25 percent more than MDC biologists assumed.

Furthermore, Hamilton said he was surprised when he examined records showing where the 1,040 otters were taken. "A lot of the harvest came from places where we didn't even know we had otters," said Hamilton, "places where we didn't put otters because we didn't consider them to be otter habitat." He said the top otter harvest counties were Texas and St. Clair. According to Hamilton, aerial surveys for otter sign following the trapping season turned up convincing evidence that otter numbers have not suffered from the bigger-than-expected harvest. "I have been flying these surveys for 13 years, and this is by far the most otter sign I've ever seen."

On-the-ground checks at 60 randomly selected bridges on streams around the state after trapping season have turned up signs of otter activity at more than 80 percent of the sites.

Taking this information into account, Hamilton says Missouri's otter population is larger and has a much greater reproductive capacity than was assumed. He said it is standard practice for MDC biologists to use the most conservative information when recommending first-time seasons.

"These factors clearly show that we have more otters than the 3,000 to 4,000 ballpark estimate we used in deciding whether the otter population could sustain a harvest," said Hamilton. "We are still looking at the information we have received and using it to adjust our computer-generated otter population model to take that information into account. But it seems likely that we have more like 6,000 or 7,000 otters in the state."

Hamilton says that an annual harvest of 1,000 or so animals is easily sustainable by an otter population of this size.

Hamilton noted that the number of otters tagged during the 1996-97 trapping season may actually overstate the size of this year's harvest. In previous years, Missouri had no trapping season for otters. But some accidental catches were inevitable, because otters live in many of the same places that trappers set their traps for beavers, raccoons and other furbearers. The condition of some pelts brought to fur buyers this year showed signs of freezer burn, making the buyers suspicious that the pelts had been taken in previous seasons and stored in anticipation of an open season in 1996-97.

Some fur buyers estimated that 15 to 30 percent of the pelts they examined may have been taken in previous years. That would cause a one-time spike in annual harvest figures.

MDC Wildlife Division Chief Ollie Torgerson said an annual otter harvest will help limit the increase in complaints from Missourians who experience problems with otters. Otters eat a wide variety of aquatic animals, including some fish. Missourians who are most likely to report otter problems include those who own fishing ponds or operate fish farms.

"Because this is our very first season, we will closely evaluate these data and review options for otter management," he said. "If we determine we need to reduce the number of otters harvested each year we can do that. Some folks have expressed concern that there was no bag limit on otters taken this year. Some even referred to this as an 'unregulated' season, but that's not true. The nature of trapping makes it impractical to impose bag limits, since trappers often catch otters in beaver traps. Instead, we regulate the harvest by varying the length of the trapping season."

The number of trappers peaked in Missouri in 1980, when the MDC sold more than 13,000 trapping permits. As recently as 1987, the state had more than 10,000 licensed trappers.

The timber wolf and lynx, a larger cousin of the bobcat that inhabits Canada and the northern United States, are the other two North American species regulated under the CITES.