A reintroduced river otter walks the ice along riverbanks at Tippecanoe River State Park. Photo by IDNR/Outdoor Indiana magazine.

Rivers otters in Columbia Mine in Gibson County. Photo by Steve Gifford via Flickr.

In fact, the reintroduction program has been so successful that Indiana might someday create a trapping season for the animals, as Illinois has recently done, one DNR official acknowledged.

After decades of the animals’ absence, the state in 1995 began releasing otters into areas of Indiana.

Over a five-year period, 303 otters were transported from Louisiana and released at 12 sites in Northern and Southern Indiana. The DNR said the reintroduction was so successful, otters were removed from the state’s endangered species list in 2005.

Scott Johnson, nongame biologist with the Indiana DNR, said Thursday that otters have even moved into Central Indiana, where the habitat was not considered ideal for the species. He said the otters have found suitable areas to live throughout the state.

“It’s now been seven years since delisting, and all of our information indicates the otter population continues to expand,” Johnson said.

Shawn Rossler, a state furbearer biologist, said the DNR has worked to improve water quality in the state, which has helped the otters, whose diets consist of fish, mussels, crayfish, reptiles and amphibians.

But he said state wildlife managers are aware that conflicts can arise from higher otter numbers, especially with private pond owners who are surprised by the rate at which the animals eat fish.

“One pond owner may enjoy watching otters, while a different landowner may find them to be a nuisance and is upset by the loss of fish in his pond,” Rossler said.

Last year, district wildlife biologists received 34 complaints on river otters eating fish from private ponds and commercial fish hatcheries or destroying private property. As of early spring, wildlife managers had issued 10 control permits to resolve otter complaints in 2012.

In Illinois, state officials also worked to introduce river otters after their numbers dwindled and the species was protected. However, after the river otter population exploded to an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 and the otters started to rely on fish farms and private ponds for food, Illinois opened an otter-trapping season.

Rossler said Indiana may also consider a trapping season if conflicts become an issue.

“A lot of the states that have had reintroduction programs have (allowed trapping) because of the conflicts otters can cause with land owners,” he said. “While it’s something that we don’t have right now, it’s something that wouldn’t be off the table for the future.”

Writer Ellie Price is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.