- [Narrator] This is Olivia, a North American river otter.
Olivia is only eight months old,
but is quite the playful otter pup.
River otters are semiaquatic.
They live both on land and in water
and have adapted for both environments.
They have thick, protective fur to help them stay warm
while swimming in cold water,
and short legs and webbed feet to help them swim quickly.
River otters can stay under water for as long as eight
minutes and use their long whiskers to find prey
in the often cloudy waters in which they swim.
In the late 1980s, North American river otters were extinct
throughout many of their natural habitats
due to fur trapping and poor water quality.
Through reintroduction programs and the fur trade management
their populations have risen and stabilized.
This is the North American river otter.