Baby otters rescued hours from death in Shrewsbury

The brother and sister were found separately near to the Rea Brook, at Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, before Christmas.

The pair are estimated to be only around four to five months old and are believed to have become exhausted as they attempted to survive in the rising flood water.

Both are now recovering at the RSPCA Rehabilitation Centre at Stapeley Grange, Nantwich, where they will be hand reared, before being trained to hunt for fish and released into the wild.

The male otter was found by a woman walking a dog on Christmas Eve and taken to Shropshire Wildlife Trust in Abbey Foregate.

Stuart Edmunds, a spokesman for Shropshire Wildlife Trust, said the cubs had been found just in time.

He said: "He was very weak. There is a good chance it had been caught up in the flow of the brook because it was quite fast flowing at that point.

"It they were not found they would have definitely died. They were in no fit state to go out and even fend for themselves for any length of time."

Mr Edmunds said they believe the cubs' mother had probably been killed and the pair had struggled to survive on their own as a result.

He said: "We think they were probably exhausted trying to stick together but had to separate to get energy back. They probably didn't have the energy without their mum around to get back to the brook."

Mr Edmunds said that despite the circumstances it was positive to find out that otters had been breeding in Shrewsbury.

He said: "We know there have been adult otters spotted and we had the dog otter spotted on the weir, but to find they are breeding in Shrewsbury is quite rare."

Otter cubs normally remain with their mother for up to two years.

The pair are likely to remain in the animal centre for at least another 12 months until a 'soft release' designed to let them get accustomed to being in the wild.