As in the days of the Wild West, she is targeted by a wanted poster. In California, an otter that is aggressive towards surfers and is sometimes able to steal their surfboards is officially hunted down by authorities in a bid to put an end to its theft.
This five-year-old woman made headlines in the American press this week after repeated acts of piracy.
The animal has been attacking surfers in Santa Cruz, near San Francisco, for several weeks. But in the last few days, his boldness seems to have exceeded its limits.
In a video posted to Twitter Monday, the sea otter climbs onto the board of a terrified glider pilot who unsuccessfully tries to flip his board to oppose him.
A great video!
This video of the sea otter attacking a surfboard yesterday was provided to me and is published with the photographer’s permission. The video must remain in this tweet to be shared. This is a dangerous sea otter. Avoid him if possible! pic.twitter.com/N7qPMFVRrt— Santa Cruz Native (@NativeSantaCruz) July 10, 2023
Without moving a bit, the mammal clings to the foam object and starts biting it.
Faced with this resurgence of aggressiveness, the authorities decided to take action.
“Due to the growing threat to public safety, a team […] “A person trained in capturing and handling sea otters was deployed to capture and relocate them to another location,” the US Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed in a statement to AFP on Wednesday.
Sea otters narrowly escaped extinction in the North Pacific as they were hunted for their fur by American settlers until the turn of the 20th century.
The species is still threatened but has recovered and now counts 3000 individuals in the region.
Encounters with a sea otter are therefore quite rare, but not entirely uncommon for American surfers, kayakers and sailors. With their little heads sticking out of the water, these animals are generally considered cute.
However, according to scientists, otters remain predators and their bites are dangerous.
The unusual behavior of this female off Santa Cruz remains unexplained.
The animal is known to local scientists.
According to the New York Times, she was born in captivity to a mother who lost her innate fear of humans after being nursed by many Californians.
To prevent the scenario from repeating itself, the staff at the Monterey Bay Aquarium who cared for them before their release even went so far as to wear masks and ponchos.
Despite these efforts, the female began to approach humans about a year after being released into the sea. Until he asserted himself as a true terror of the seas.
“I was scared,” Joon Lee, a victim of an attack on Sunday, told the Los Angeles Times.
“I tried to swim away, but before I could escape, the otter bit my leash (the rope that connects the board to a surfer’s ankle),” said this computer engineer. “I panicked.”