THE otter has been crowned Scotland's favourite native species in the first World Cup of Scottish Animals.
It beat off competition from 31 other animals and insects from land, sea and air, finally taking the top slot yesterday by beating the Scottish wildcat by a whisker.
The National Trust for Scotland launched the poll three months ago, with 60,000 votes cast online and the creatures pitted against one another in a series of head to head votes.
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The final began last Wednesday and saw the Scottish wildcat take on the otter for the public’s affections. The wildcat – which has been spotted in the grounds of Crathes Castle, Drum Castle or Leith Hall in Aberdeenshire – went into the bout as the favourite, having amassed the most votes up to that point.
In the end, once votes were tallied up from all the Trust’s social media channels, the otter was revealed as the winner with 56% of the final vote.
Regularly seen at the Trust’s Inverewe estate in Ross-shire, the otter features in the list of Scotland’s "Big Five" animals, which also includes the golden eagle, red deer, red squirrel and harbour seal.
The otter beat the Highland cow by just seven votes in the semi final, the narrowest margin in the whole competition. The biggest margin was scored by the red squirrel, which beat the feral goat in round one by 1384 votes. The red squirrel lost out to the Scottish wildcat in the last four.
Other animals eliminated in earlier rounds included the golden eagle, Shetland pony, red deer, Atlantic puffin, pine marten, adder, bottlenose dolphin, capercaillie, kingfisher and mountain hare.
The otter's success was celebrated yesterday by Finance Secretary Kate Forbes MSP, the Scottish Parliament's Species Champion for otters.
The SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, who took up the role of species champion in March, said: "Scotland boasts an array of fantastic creatures, so against that backdrop it’s quite an accolade for the otter to be named the winner of the National Trust’s Animal World Cup.
"It’s great that thousands of people have been able to take part in the competition, and as the proud species champion for the otter I’m delighted to see them come out on top.
"I’m sure the otters in my constituency will be thrilled."
Stuart Brooks, Head of Conservation and Policy at the National Trust for Scotland said looking after Scotland's natural treasures was a 'massive part of what we do.'
"We’ve got over 76,000 hectares of countryside that we care for including eight National Nature Reserves and 27 sites that are recognised as being vital to internationally important nature conservation efforts," he said,
"The 32 animals that we picked for the Scottish Animal World Cup represent just a few of the thousands of species that we’re responsible for.
"The otter might have won the vote as Scotland’s favourite animal but we love all of them, right down to the northern fulmar. The plucky seabird might have got knocked out in round one against the pine marten and received least votes overall but it’s important to us too.
"The Trust exists to protect everything that makes this country so special but right now we’re having trouble doing that. This year we’re expecting to lose £28 million in income because of coronavirus.
"The fact that almost 60,000 votes were cast in the Scottish Animal World Cup shows that people really do care for our unique country and that passion is a great boost for our future."
The otter is one of Scotland’s top predators, feeding on fish, amphibians and crustaceans. Well suited to life on water thanks to their webbed feet and dense fur to keep them warm, they also have the ability to close their ears and nose when underwater.
The species (Lutra lutra), which is related to the badger, pine marten, stoat, was driven to the brink of extinction in Britain in the mid 20th century when pesticide pollution in lochs and rivers saw them confined to the north and west of Scotland.
Cleaner waters and legal protection has allowed otters to return to many lochs and rivers and around 8,000 can now be found around the Scottish coast and even in the hearts of some towns and cities.
Forestry and Land Scotland recommend the west coast and islands as the best places to see a wild otter.
They recommend Kylerhea otter hide near Broadford on Skye for a 'stunning vantage point over the Kylerhea narrows, where otters are often seen frolicking along the shoreline.'
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