For over a hundred years, one of New York City’s rivers has been missing one particular critter that called the waterway home. This summer, a centuries-long trend has ended. A motion-activated camera documented a North American river otter along the Bronx River at last.
The image was recorded on June 23 by a camera placed by local scientist RJ Hawkins as part of a wildlife-monitoring project overseen by the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Education Department at the Bronx Zoo, according to CBS News.
CBS News writes that wildlife officials are calling it the first documented river otter sighting along the Bronx portion of the river in about 100 years. Hawkins said the animal appeared to be a juvenile.
River otters depend on clean water, abundant prey, and suitable river habitat, which makes their presence an encouraging sign for a waterway that was heavily polluted for generations. Wildlife experts consider the animals useful indicators of freshwater ecosystem health
A Camera Trap Caught The Surprise
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Hawkins has been monitoring wildlife along the Bronx River since 2024. When he reviewed the camera image, he told CBS News that he “could hardly believe” what he was seeing.
“Knowing this may be the first documented river otter in the Bronx in generations was an incredible moment,” he went on. “It shows why long-term wildlife monitoring and environmental restoration efforts matter.”
River otters were once a familiar sight throughout New York’s waterways. Sadly, The Guardian reports that pollution, habitat destruction, and unregulated trapping contributed to their disappearance from many areas.
Still, researchers are not declaring the species fully re-established in the Bronx just yet. Researchers cautioned that one documented otter does not necessarily mean a resident population now lives along the river, according to CBS News.
The Bronx River Has Spent Decades Recovering
The Bronx River Alliance says modernization transformed the waterway into a center of industrial and residential waste, and by the late 1800s it was being described as an open sewer.
Community-led restoration efforts began in earnest in 1974, when local activists formed a group called Bronx River Restoration and began cleaning up and restoring the river. Over the decades that followed, residents, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies worked to restore the river’s water quality.
Over time, their efforts have yielded visible results. A beaver was documented in the Bronx River in 2007, marking the first confirmed beaver sighting in New York City in over 200 years, according to NYC Wildlife. According to the Bronx River Alliance, the river now supports species including American eels, blue crabs, muskrats, and oysters.
The otter is another encouraging addition. Bronx Zoo director Craig Piper said decades of work have produced cleaner water and healthier habitat, calling the sighting “a win for both wildlife and people,” according to CBS News.