An otter has been found dead on an Irish beach with a plastic beer ring cutting into her neck.
Ranger David Ferguson made the grim discovery last week while working for Donegal’s LIFE on Machair project, conserving the coastal area and at risk birds like lapwings and curlews.
Otters are also protected in Ireland as the species has declined because of threats like habitat loss, pollution, accidental death and persecution.
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David told us the find annoyed him, adding: “It was a real shame. They are coming back but things like that don’t help.
“It was along the back of the fence at the high tide line. It was an adult female otter.”
Asked what he thought killed her, David said: “It was definitely the plastic beer can holder - it had got around her neck.
“Otters make their fur waterproof and buoyant by blowing air into their fur. That’s why they are preening themselves all the time to keep their fur in good condition.
“When it’s got that thing round its neck, she wouldn’t be able to do that which would mean it would become waterlogged.
“It was cutting right into her neck so she probably couldn’t feed. She was quite thin.
“It could have been a freak accident,” added the former National Parks and Wildlife Service worker.
“It’s the first one I have ever found like that.
“But it’s been highlighted in the past how turtles had been killed by them [plastic rings] so it just shows you it’s not things happening on the other side of the world. It’s happening on our doorstep.”
While the beach near Derrybeg is busy with visitors, the conservation worker says: “The beer ring could have come from Australia.
“A lot of rubbish comes in on the tides. Like all beaches it is supposed to be pristine but they’re not.”
David says the rubbish on our beaches is not always left there by “disgusting people”. So he has appealed to anyone who enjoys coastal strolls - “don’t be shy about picking other people’s rubbish up”.
“It’s coming in on the tides or when you get a storm or people’s bins are blown over and it washes down to the sea... sometimes it’s just the way it is.
“We have rivers, flooding through people’s gardens and when it doesn’t get washed over, winds blow your bins over and rubbish goes everywhere.
“People open their car door and sometimes a plastic bag gets blown away - it’s not always deliberate.
“But always pick rubbish up yourself if you can.”
Anyone discarding plastic rings is advised to cut or break the loops to avoid tragedies like this.
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