2020

Video: an Unexpected Meeting with an Otter Family

When working in forest, employees of JSC “Latvia's State Forests” (LVM) often come across various unseen or rare forest gifts, unexpected meetings with forest residents are also inevitable. At the end of the summer, LVM environmental planning specialist Kaspars Liepiņš surveyed River Rauza in Smiltene Municipality, mapping fallen tree deposits to be removed and beaver dams to be cleared. Upon crossing the rather rocky and shallow river, the specialist met a family of otters – a female animal with two babies.

“I was standing there in the middle of the river. Of course, the otter mother immediately noticed me and did not approach, whereas the young animals safely swam along the toes of my boots,” Kaspars Liepiņš, Environmental Planning Specialist, tells about the unexpected encounter.