04 August 2023 , 14:53
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A woman needed to be airlifted to hospital after being subjected to an incredibly rare attack by otters.
The sharp-toothed mammals also injured two others as the group rafted together in America’s Montana wilderness.
The friends were floating on inner tubes about three miles upstream from the Sappington Bridge in Montana when they were ambushed.
The women say they saw one or two otters while travelling down the river when one of them suddenly approached and attacked.
One of the party managed to get out of the water seeing her assailant swim away.
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A woman was airlifted to hospital after being subjected to an incredibly rare attack by otters (AP)"The women then called 911, and several agencies responded, including Montana Highway Patrol, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson Valley Ambulance, and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Life Flight and a local landowner,” Morgan Jacobsen from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks said.
One of the victims suffered injuries to her face and arms that were so serious that she had to be flown by helicopter to a hospital in the city of Bozeman.
The other two sustained injuries to their arms as they tried to fight off the animal.
Officials are baffled by the incident, which happened on Wednesday at around 8pm, saying attacks by river otters are highly unusual.
"It’s just not something you run into very often. Bears do it, moose too, and occasionally a deer, but otters? That’s not normal,” said James Everett, a police official in Jefferson County.
Northern river otters are members of the weasel family and can reach up to 20 pounds (9 kilograms) — as heavy as a small dog — and up to 47 inches long (1.2 meters). They primarily eat fish.
They can can use their teeth and claws to bite and scratch, Jacobsen said.
“If folks are attacked by an otter, our recommended response is to fight back, get away and get out of the water,” he said.
Warning signs were posted at access points along the Jefferson River in the area of the attack.
No otters have been seen there since Wednesday, and there will be no efforts to catch or remove any of the animals because it’s believed to have been a defensive attack, he said.
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Last month in California, a sea otter gained widespread attention for aggressively wrestling surfboards from surfers off the coast of Santa Cruz.
During summer, the water level is lower in rivers, bringing people into more contact with wildlife.