WALDPORT — Oregon State Police wildlife troopers are asking for the public’s help to find the person responsible for killing a river otter in a remote fishing pond near the Oregon Hatchery Research Center 25 miles east of Waldport.
In a news release Monday, state police said troopers received a report May 6 of a dead river otter floating in Thissel Pond, a popular trout fishing pond on Fall Creek Road near the research center.
Troopers discovered a male river otter that had been shot with a small caliber bullet and determined it was shot sometime between April 26 and May 3.
River otters are a separate and distinct species from the sea otter, which has been extinct along the Oregon coast for decades. However, river otters are not endangered or fully protected in Oregon but they are strictly regulated by the state, requiring a specific fur taker’s license, a separate river otter record card, and mandatory pelt tagging through the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife
Anyone with information on the river otter’s shooting is encouraged to contact state police dispatch at 1-800-452-7888 or email [email protected] and reference case number SP26-146568.
