Along the rivers, channels, oxbow lakes, fishponds of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg I looked for the traces of the otters at 107 points, mainly under bridges, at channel crossings or on other striking ponds. Thereby, I did not consider the river Tisza (except three accidental observations) and Szamos with their flood area and the Oxbow lakes within the dams. 85 (79%) of this points showed at least one spraint. This corresponds with at least 15 territories, probably over 20. All important water bodies of the region seem to be populated at least temporarily by the otters. No fundamental changes have been detected between the year 2000 and 2001.

The most important conservation measure for this species is to find solutions with fishery managers. But the present results highlight also the importance of channels, not only as tracks for dispersal, but also as important part of the habitat itself.