In this picture provided by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, a river otter explores its new surroundings during an Oct. 14, 2008, release on the Rio Pueblo de Taos. (AP Photo/New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Jim Stuart)
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Updated: Friday, 23 Oct 2009, 10:51 AM MDT
Published : Friday, 23 Oct 2009, 10:51 AM MDT
ALONG THE RIO PUEBLO DE TAOS, N.M. (AP) - Six river otters from the Pacific Northwest have been released into the ice-cold water of the Rio Pueblo de Taos in northern New Mexico as part of an effort to return the mammals to their historic range.
The wild otters were trapped in Washington state and transported to New Mexico, where they were checked out by state game officials before Friday's early morning release. They will join 10 other otters that were released in the river last October.
The Bureau of Land Management, Taos Pueblo, the state Game and Fish Department and several conservation groups have been working to get the otters back into New Mexico's rivers.
Otters disappeared from New Mexico more than a half-century ago due to decades of trapping and habitat loss.
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