🦦 Otter Weekend at Shepreth Wildlife Park

Otter Weekend was celebrated at Shepreth Wildlife Park on 24th, 25th and 26th of May, 2025. An event aimed at raising awareness of the threats otters face and raising vital funds for the International Otter Survival Fund (IOSF), one of the world’s leading otter conservation organisations.

Otters are under serious threat. Across the globe, otters face a wide range of dangers:

🌍 Habitat destruction

♻️ Pollution and litter

🚗 Road traffic accidents and snares

💔 Human-wildlife conflict

🛑 The pet trade, both legal and illegal

Otters are trafficked for their furs, used in traditional medicine, and increasingly kept as pets, a trend dangerously glamorised by social media, circuses and otter cafés, especially in Asia. Many of these otters are taken from the wild as pups after their mothers are killed and then sold into lives of captivity, suffering, and neglect.

Despite social media platforms having policies against the sale of animals, otters remain disturbingly easy to find online. IOSF is actively campaigning to raise awareness, urge action and stop the cruel trade.

How your support helps

By donating today, you’ll be supporting IOSF’s global efforts to:

🩺 Rescue, rehabilitate and release otters in need, including over 250 treated at their specialist centre in the Isle of Skye

🌍 Run conservation projects and fieldwork in over 40 countries

📚 Provide education and training to local communities, school groups and conservation professionals

👩‍🏫 Host international workshops promoting coexistence between humans and otters

🔍 Assist with research, rescue advice, and reintroduction programmes in places like Japan, Iraq, and the Netherlands

🛑 Combat the illegal trade in otters for pets and pelts

IOSF is deeply committed to ensuring a future where otters thrive in the wild, not suffer in cages. With supporters in over 30 countries and growing, they are making a global impact, but they can’t do it without your help.

🌐 Learn more at www.otter.org

💚 Please give what you can. Every donation helps IOSF protect otters, support local communities and give these amazing animals the future they deserve.