Otters Overrun Ohio

The river otter, that wily and playful critter adored by thepublic, is overrunning Ohio.

Now,wildlife officials there are finding themselves in the same predicament astheir counterparts in other states: killing a species once on the verge ofvanishing.

InFlorida and New Jersey, it's the black bear. The Rockies and Alaska have thegray wolf. Nearly everywhere else, it's the white-tailed deer and Canada goose.

"Ina human-dominated landscape, it's really tough to keep wildlife in the numberswe feel are appropriate," said Greg Butcher, a zoologist with theWashington-based National Audubon Society. "We have affected the environmentso much that a lot of natural checks and balances are gone."

Theotter's numbers have soared in just two decades _ from 123 to about 4,300 _ andOhio wildlife officials are proposing a permit-only trapping season that wouldrun Dec. 26 to Feb. 28, 2006, in 43 counties. Eight citizens who make up theOhio Wildlife Council vote on the proposal in April.

TheU.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that wildlife causes $1 billion incrop and livestock damage each year, while deer collisions injure about 29,000motorists a year and cost another $1 billion. Bird collisions cost the aviationindustry $740 million annually.

Theotter's story is familiar. Overtrapping drove the native species from Ohio bythe early 1900s, but their reintroduction _ starting in 1986 and lasting sevenyears _ has been so successful that farmers are starting to complain. Afterall, a family of otters can eat half the fish in a privately stocked pondbefore the owner gets wind of their visits.

"Ifthey find a nice trout farm, they're pretty happy with that," said C. GregAnderson, assistant biology professor at the University of the Pacific inStockton, Calif.

Ottersused to be in every state but Hawaii but were wiped out over 70 percent oftheir range, Anderson said. Reintroduction programs began in the 1980s in 21states, all successes. Missouri, one of the first with 19 otters released in1982, now has more than 10,000 and allows trapping, he said. Kentucky began itsfirst otter season this winter, running through February.

Government-sanctionedhunting of all kinds of animals is proliferating across the country.

Startingin February, private landowners in Montana and Idaho won't need writtenapproval to kill gray wolves harassing livestock, while Wyoming is suing thefederal government to get its wolf management plan approved. From about 30wolves introduced 10 years ago, 825 or more now live in the three states.

Floridawildlife officials reported a record number of sightings of threatened blackbears in 2004 because of sprawling development and busier roads. The state isstudying the bear population and could lift its protected status this year.

NewJersey's second annual bear hunt was called off this year amid a dispute overthe state's management plan. New Jersey has more than 3,000 bears, up fromfewer than 100 in the 1970s.

Huntinggroups once feared the disappearance of white-tailed deer, but managementencouraging reproduction worked too well. Last fall, the Cleveland suburb ofSolon became the latest Ohio community to hire sharpshooters to cull the prolificlandscape munchers.

Fewsuccess stories compare with that of the giant strain of Canada goose, whichwas nearly extinct in the 1960s because of hunting and lack of their preferredgrassland habitat.

Inthe Midwest, restrictions on hunting coincided with the explosion of officeparks with manicured lawns and lush golf courses. The birds, with their 6-footwingspans, are now fouling picnic spots with green manure and hissing andnipping at golfers. States from North Dakota to Pennsylvania have expandedhunting allowances.

Whilesome see overpopulation as triumph over extinction, the Animal ProtectionInstitute sees it as failure on the part of wildlife officials. Reintroductionof a native animal requires planning to prevent an overrun, said BarbaraSchmitz of the Sacramento, Calif.-based institute.

"Alot of times, lethal solutions are looked at first," Schmitz said. "It ispossible for them to become part of the balance of nature again."