Sightings of otters in a Welsh river are on the rise following the launch of a programme to boost local wildlife.
As many as five of the critters have been spotted in the River Cynon, after pollution caused numbers to dwindle.
The decline in otter numbers last year was described as a “wake up call” for the state of the UK’s rivers.
The River for All project aims to improve biodiversity with volunteers restoring and monitoring the river which runs through south east Wales.
The three-year project is part-funded by the Pen y Cymoedd Wind Farm Community Fund and run by the South East Wales Rivers Trust.
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Gareth Edge, a River for All officer, said: “Before we started on the project, the River Cynon was in poor condition and the wildlife populations were in decline.
“There had only been a few sightings of otters in the past several years,” he added.
After being wiped out in parts of the UK in the 1950s and 60s, otter numbers were recovering in Wales up until the most recent national survey in early 2022.
Pollution was deemed one of the possible reasons for this decline.
“The river was heavily polluted and full of rubbish, which caused the quality of the water to be very poor,” Mr Edge said.
“This meant that small insects and wildlife that make up an essential part of the food web for larger fish and mammal populations simply couldn’t survive.
“In five years of working on the river I’d never seen an otter, and then in the past 18 months I have seen at least five and they are being spotted by visitors on a regular basis.”
He added that the 60 project volunteers who have worked to restore the river have been a “godsend”.
Kate Breeze, executive director of wind farm community fund Pen y Cymoedd, said: “Projects like a River for All are crucial to helping us maintain a stable ecosystem here in Wales.
“The fund was set up to not only help support local businesses and organisations but also to help maintain and sustain our beautiful country.”