There is still an otter in the Nieuwkoopse lakes near Gouda, despite fears it had been killed by a car, natural heritage group Natuurmonumenten says on Monday.

Some 10 days ago a dead otter was found on a road close to where the otter had been earlier recorded on hidden camera, giving rise to fears it had been killed.

But camera footage taken five days after the dead otter was found show that at least one is still alive in the area.

The otter is thought to have died out in the Netherlands in the 1980s, but since 2001 there has been a programme to reintroduce them in the north of the country.

The Gouda otter is the first to be spotted in that part of the country since 1976.