"Back from the brink of extinction, the otter is making a come-back in Britain today. Author James Williams, a life-long enthusiast of this fascinating, enigmatic creature, dispells some the mysteries in this beautifully-illustrated book: * Reasons for the near-disappearance of the otter in the 1980s and the reasons for its recovery today * Why otters patrol their territories and fight for them * Breeding, natural history and behaviour * Unusual otter information: blind otters, the work of otter groups, the difficulties of introducing otters in the wild, their surprising ability to live close to man * Otters as predators -- their impact on fish stocks, the difficulty of fish-hunting in cold water, their favourite foods * Tracking otters through their prints, and through their spraints * Helping the otter to survive in the 21st century"