GWENT Wildlife Trust is helping otters to cross the road this winter by installing an otter ledge near Aberbeeg.

Thanks to funding from the Co-op and a generous donor, and the support of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, the trust has installed the otter ledge under the busy road.

The otter ledge is part of the Gwent Otter Road Casualty Prevention Project, run by Gwent Wildlife Trust, which is using information from the Cardiff University Otter Project to identify further areas for preventative action.

‘Otters travel widely throughout Gwent, but they prefer to run along the riverbank rather than swim, leaving them vulnerable to road accidents, especially as they are most active when it’s dark,” Conservation Officer Sorrel Jones said.

“Ledges like this give them a safe alternative route, away from traffic.”

Otters were affected by the pollution of rivers in industrialised areas, but are now becoming more widespread as water quality improves and fish stocks increase. Unfortunately, as their numbers have risen, the numbers of otters killed on roads has also increased, with over 700 recorded road casualties in South Wales to date