The military personnel of the Foce Sele Forestry Carabinieri Station found a young female otter (lutra lutra) dead in Campolongo di Eboli, on the edge of a rainwater and irrigation canal, presumably hit by a vehicle. The doctors of the Eboli veterinary unit, who intervened on site, confirmed the recognition of the animal, then recovered the animal and proceeded to deliver it to the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno in Salerno for further investigations and for the scientific purposes envisaged by the National Action Plan for the Conservation of the Otter of the Ministry of the Environment and ISPRA.
The otter is the rarest land mammal of the native fauna, protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, known as CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species) and the presence of this animal is an indicator of good environmental quality of the waters and banks of our rivers.
It can be said that the waters of the Sele, Calore, Mingardo, Sammaro, Bussento and other Cilento rivers represent a perfect refuge for this very rare mustelid, a species that remains vulnerable when, for any reason, it moves away from its natural habitat.
These environments, such as the WWF Oasis of Serre – Persano where the mustelid finds favourable ecological conditions, constitute naturalistic areas of particular value and interest.
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