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What human activities cause many river otter deaths?

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Sea otter — otter A sea otter (*Enhydra lutris*) eating a crab.

Human activities are the leading cause of mortality for river otters. These activities include:1

Road accidents: Otters are frequently killed by vehicles when traveling overland between bodies of water.1
Entanglement: Otters often drown after becoming trapped in fishnets.1
Persecution: Some individuals are killed because they are perceived as pests in areas where fishing occurs.1
Commercial trapping: Otters are hunted and trapped for the fur trade.12
Habitat and environmental degradation: The destruction of wetland habitats due to urbanization and logging, alongside pollution from heavy metals and chemicals like mercury and PCBs, significantly impairs their survival and reproductive success.2

Protecting these animals is an ethical imperative, as their survival depends on the restoration of water quality and the conservation of their natural environments.2