DistributionRead full entry Coastal habitat is suitable over
large portions of the European continent, including perimeters
of the Celtic Sea, English Channel, Bay of Biscay, Irish Sea,
Sea of the Hebrides, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, Baltic Sea, Gulf
of Riga and Mediterranean Sea. Furthermore, some European
countries offer suitable otter habitat hundreds of kilometres
inland from the nearest sea. For example, in Romania, not only
are European otter found within the Danube Delta, but far inland
within the Carpathian Mountains. In Poland and Bulgaria, otters
are found far inland in the rivers that have sufficiently high
water quality and have a minimum of hydroelectric installations.
The European otter, in fact, can be found in mountain valleys as
high as 1400 metres in places such as Bulgaria, including
numerous small watersheds in West Rhodopy Mountain, Bulgaria. In
Turkey, however, overgrazing of riparian terrestrial cover,
human hunting and water pollution have almost extirpated L.
lutra from inland areas, e