River Otter Spotted in the Bronx for the First Time in 100 Years

A North American river otter was photographed by a motion-activated camera in the Bronx River on June 23, 2026 — the first documented sighting there since the early 1900s. The Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo announced the finding on August 19. Otters vanished from New York's rivers amid pollution, habitat loss, and fur trapping. Beavers returned to the same river in 2007 after a 200-year absence.