{"id":325679,"date":"2026-08-20T10:02:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T10:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/325679\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T10:02:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T10:02:29","slug":"river-otter-spotted-in-the-bronx-for-1st-time-in-100-years-bronx-zoo-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/325679\/","title":{"rendered":"River otter spotted in the Bronx for 1st time in 100 years, Bronx Zoo says"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brief<\/p>\n

An otter was spotted along the Bronx River for the first time in a century, according to the Bronx Zoo.<\/p>\n

A motion-activated camera, monitored by the Wildlife Conservation Society, photographed the otter on June 23, 2026, officials said.<\/p>\n

It’s considered a major milestone for efforts to clean up the once heavily-polluted Bronx River.<\/p>\n

NEW YORK – A river otter has been spotted in the wild in the Bronx for the first time in a century, a landmark achievement for water conservation efforts in New York City, according to the Bronx Zoo.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bronx River otter\u00a0\"<div>Credit:<\/p>\n

Credit: Wildlife Conservation Society Education Department\/RJ Hawkins<\/p>\n

What we know<\/p>\n

The Wildlife Conservation Society Bronx Zoo said a North American river otter was documented in the borough along the Bronx River for the first time in approximately 100 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A motion-activated camera, monitored by the WCS’s Education Department at the Bronx Zoo, photographed the otter on June 23, 2026, officials said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It’s believed to be the first otter sighting in the Bronx since the early 1900s, the zoo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A stunning discovery\"<div>Attleboro,<\/p>\n

Attleboro, MA – March 19: The North American River Otter exhibit at Capron Park Zoo on March 19, 2026. (Photo by Barry Chin\/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

What they’re saying<\/p>\n

RJ Hawkins, the local scientist who deployed the camera, said he was stunned when he saw the picture of the otter along the Bronx River.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“When I first reviewed the images, I could hardly believe what I was seeing,” Hawkins said. “Knowing this may be the first documented river otter in the Bronx in generations was an incredible moment. It shows why long-term wildlife monitoring and environmental restoration efforts matter.”<\/p>\n

“It’s a win for both wildlife and people.” Bronx Zoo Director Craig Piper<\/p>\n

The Wildlife Conservation Society said it’s been working with the Bronx River Alliance for decades to eliminate pollution from the Bronx River and restore wildlife.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“There are moments in conservation that remind us why this work matters, and this is one of them,” said Bronx Zoo Director Craig Piper. “Thanks to a broad coalition of public and private partners, we can celebrate the return of an otter as a result of decades of restoration work to provide cleaner water and healthier habitat. It’s a win for both wildlife and people.”<\/p>\n

Wildlife in the Bronx\"<strong>(Photographer:<\/p>\n

(Photographer: Gabriela Bhaskar\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Big picture view<\/p>\n

Otters used to be common throughout New York waterways, but started disappearing due to pollution, habitat degradation and unregulated trapping, according to the Bronx Zoo.<\/p>\n

Environmentalists say their presence is an indicator of “healthy freshwater ecosystems because they depend on clean water, abundant fish, and intact river habitats.”<\/p>\n

Beavers returned to the Bronx River for the first time in more than 200 years in 2007, the zoo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Source<\/p>\n

This article is based on information from the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brief An otter was spotted along the Bronx River for the first time in a century, according…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325680,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,1309,25511,9,24,63,122595,129,131,130,122596,25620],"class_list":["post-325679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-bronx-river","tag-bronx-zoo","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-river-otter","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news","tag-water-conservation-efforts","tag-wildlife-conservation-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}