First the scat was observed, then scratches, and actually that was that, until Micha Hanuna placed motion-sensor cameras on a trail
Israel has otters. These otters are hardly ever seen because they are semi-aquatic and nocturnal, which we are not. They are also in extreme danger of extinction, which we are not, and that is why they are in extreme danger of extinction.
Israel's otters are not only rare but shy. The result is that veteran hikers who have plied Israel's trails for decades and trekkers who have spotted the elusive caracal and followed the infrequent hyena, admit they have never seen any.
Last week Micha Hanuna, who teaches tracking (of animal spoor) and ancient skills with the Bney Adama organization, didn't see any otters either. He never has, and he still hasn't. But alerted to potential otter existence by telltale paw-prints and poo, he set up motion-sensor cameras on a trail and captured two or possibly or three on video, disporting themselves in the "river."
It is the first time he saw otters in the wild, Hanuna told the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, which disseminated the images, not that he actually saw the animals themselves. It is hard to say whether he didn't see two or three, because river otters may be diurnal but are more usually nocturnal, and the camera captured these images at night.
