Otters have long been one of the rarest animals in Danish nature, but rumour has it they are expanding their territory.

This morning, the estate owner Gregers Hellemann went on air on P4 Sjælland and said that he had seen a tiny critter in the wild in Zealand.

Near extinction
Forester Jens Peter Simonsen told Jyllands-Posten that otters may have returned, but he couldn't confirm the sighting.

"There's long been doubt whether the otter, besides living in Jutland and Fyn, had also found a place to live in Zealand," he said.

"Even if there are some, there's very few."

Lonely otter will get company
However, that's about to change as otters have been released into the wild as part of a national conservation program, but although the population has not been thriving in the east, the new plan is to collect them in Jutland and release them in Zealand.

"It's very endangered in Zealand, if it's even there," Simonsen said. "But that one otter that may have been spotted will not be lonely."