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Man reaches the Bay Area after walking across the country from New York City
By Katherine Langford
Conservationists celebrate sighting of North American river otter on San Mateo coast
Marcus Chen
Marcus Chen
Managing Editor · St. Paul, MN
Marcus manages the day-to-day editorial workflow across all brands, coordinating coverage assignments and ensuring editorial standards are met. He previously served as city editor at the Pioneer Press and holds a degree in Political Science from Carleton College.
More from Marcus →Managing Editor · Tuesday, October 27, 2026 at 10:18 AM · 1 min read
Conservationists are celebrating after a North American river otter was sighted recently along the San Mateo coast for the first time in more than 100 years. The otter was photographed by wildlife cameras within a closed area of the Cloverdale Ranch Open Space Preserve in Pescadero in July, August and September. The cameras were set up to photograph other animals, such as foxes, so it was a welcome surprise when a river otter made an appearance, according to the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. Checking wildlife cameras can be like Christmas, but river otters haven t been known to occur on the San Mateo Coast since the 1800s, said Ken Hickman, an independent researcher and Midpen partner. I knew Midpen and State Parks biologists would be as surprised and interested as I was to see the photos. The river otter species Lontra canadensis once ranged along the west coast of North America, from Alaska down to Santa Barbara County, but the 19th-century fur trade and
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