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<\/p>\nNational<\/p>\n
Saturday 14 February 2026<\/p>\n
The apex predator has taken up residence along the banks of the river Cam in big win for local conservation efforts<\/p>\n
The otter is captured by a wildlife camera in the Fellows\u2019 Garden of Trinity College, Cambridge<\/p>\n
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Donna Ferguson<\/p>\n
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Trinity students<\/a> are known for having a robust intellect, an ability to ace exams and a ferocious lust for learning. But one newcomer to the Cambridge<\/a> college is leaving a rather different mark: \u201csparkly poo\u201d, empty mussel shells and a trail of paw prints beside a brook that flows into the river Cam.<\/p>\n An otter has been spotted for the first time in the college grounds, caught on camera lurking in the Fellows\u2019 Garden at night. There is no evidence yet that it was having a breather after a few too many Aperol spritzes at a student party.<\/p>\n The fresher with a difference is the first apex predator to grace Trinity since Lord Byron, prohibited as a student from bringing his dog into the college, instead brought a bear<\/a>. In a letter in 1807, the poet wrote: \u201cWhen I brought him here, they asked me what to do with him, and my reply was, \u2018he should sit for a fellowship\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n The otter<\/a> may have \ufeffits eyes on a similar prize. Historically, only senior academics at Trinity were permitted to access the Fellows\u2019 Garden, situated in the Backs, the green area that backs on to the Cam, although it is now open to students and other staff.<\/p>\n Trinity\u2019s deputy head gardener Karen Wells first identified the otter from its droppings, which sparkled with silver fish scales.<\/p>\n After observing fish bones, mussel shells, webbed paw prints and \u201ca lot of otter poo<\/a>\u201d by a small slab bridge across the brook, gardeners set up a wildlife camera in December, hoping their nocturnal visitor would return.<\/p>\n \u201cIt took a good few weeks before we actually caught it on camera, and the first time we got just a millisecond of the otter\u2019s bottom disappearing back into the river,\u201d Wells said.<\/p>\n The adult male \u2013 known as a boar \u2013 was eventually filmed crossing the bridge, diving into the brook and looking about the eight-acre garden. The footage made her \u201csqueal with delight\u201d. Wells added: \u201cIt was absolutely magical and really exciting. It shows we\u2019re doing the right things from a biodiversity and sustainability perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n Once widespread, otters teetered on the brink of extinction in the UK in the 1970s after organochlorine pesticides caused catastrophic reproductive failures. Now a protected species, they have had a remarkable \u00adresurgence in England and were identified in the Cam in September after Cambridge city council created new wetlands in a local nature reserve.<\/p>\n The otter\u2019s arrival in the Backs highlights how effectively college gardeners are working together to provide vital sanctuaries for wildlife along the river, forming a \u201cgreen backbone\u201d in the heart of Cambridge<\/a>.<\/p>\n NewslettersChoose the newsletters you want to receive<\/p>\n Clear, calm analysis on the stories driving the day\u2019s news.<\/p>\n The very best of our journalism, reviews and ideas \u2013 curated each day.<\/p>\n A dispatch from The Observer\u2019s kitchen table \u2013 from Nigel Slater\u2019s recipes to interviews, features and hot tips.<\/p>\n