A Review of Violent or Fatal Otter Attacks

In general, the public view of otters is often described as playful, curious and that they are not known for aggressive towards humans. As well, otter attacks seem to be under reported both in the anecdotal reports or scientific publications. In light of recent otter attacks in Florida, we reviewed all evidence of otter attacks on humans for any geographical and temporal relationships from the earliest (1875) to the most recent (Dec 2010). There was a total 39 anecdotal articles and 4 scientific publications found dealing with violent human-otter interaction (bites, attacks, deaths). The majority of attacks dealt with the North American otter (Lontra canadensis - 77%) and geographically occurred most often in Florida (38%). The greatest number of attacks occurred from 1990 to 2009 (51%). Within the 39 documented anecdotal reports of otter attacks, rabies was confirmed in 24 to 66% of the cases. Otters are known to be very territorial in nature and in North America, have had increases in population numbers. In certain areas where otters occur naturally (Florida), there has been a huge surge of human expansion, which has encroached upon the otter’s natural habitat. This encroachment into the otter’s habitat may be one reason for the recent increases of otter attacks upon humans.