20. The River People by Philip Wayre

I picked this beautiful paperback up in a thrift shop in Halifax on aesthetic reasons alone.  It's a non-fiction book about otters and specifically, the author's work in researching rehabilitating them that led to the creation of The Otter Trust which still exists and appears to be doing good work to protect wetlands and revive endangered species in England.  I am theoretically a radical environmentalist but pretty fixed in my views that we humans are destructive parasites hellbent on consumption until nothing is left and need to reform radically or be wiped out.  So there is not much use or pleasure for me in reading about the environment or endangered species as I already know the drill.  However, I just could not resist this lovely 1971 Fontana with a beautifully illustrated wrap-around cover (by Stephen Adams).  Unfortunately, the colour on the spine is weirdly all green so the effect is somewhat spoiled when you open the book all the way.  Still, a keeper.

I am guessing that Philip Wayre was better known when this book came out.  He produced a documentary about otters that was well-received at the time.  He kept otters and other animals on his property and let children visit.  The first half of the book is about the various otters he rescued in England and brought back to his land to raise and try to breed.  It's actually a pretty fun read.  Otters do not make good housepets.  They are mischievous and destructive and leave a very strong-smelling "spraight" to mark their territory.  They can be tamed, but have strong jaws with really sharp teeth and even the super tamed ones will sometimes bite hard when excited.  The author and his wife were incredibly patient but I guess that was their passion.  

The second half of the book is about their journey to Malaysia to try and study some other species of otters.  This was a pretty classic British post-WWII travelogue with some light dusting of colonialism.  They visit some pretty beautiful-sounding places and spend more time looking at otter tracks and spoor than seeing actual otters, though sadly they do bring a few back home that had been captured by locals.

The final chapter is an explanation of the creation of The Otter Trust, including frustrating story of how he purchased a big plot of land only to have it blocked by the local council who would not approve of making it an otter trust.  Very weird business. I hear England is like that, powerful NIMBYs and laws that let them block everything.  He is very vague about who is behind it and dismisses the idea that it was graft but also laments that it most likely would end up being developed, which I am sure it is today (and thus sounds like it would be some shitbag developers behind blocking any land being put in trust).  It seems like they did succeed in finding some land based on the projects on their website.