Otter attacks koi carp in New Forest garden pond

Footage of an otter attacking koi carp fish in a garden pond has emerged as a rare sighting of the creature in the New Forest.

Neighbours of Tony Stride filmed the otter through a window as it raided the pond at his New Forest home, near Ashurst, killing about 10 fish.

Naturalist Prof Russell Wynn said it was "amazing" to see an otter hunting in the daylight.

Mr Stride said he had "mixed emotions" but planned to restock the pond.

He explained that he had been away and neighbours had been in his house feeding his cat when they noticed the fish "moving erratically" in the fish pond outside.

"They took the dramatic footage you see of our unwanted guest," he said.

"It's a shame but we'll start again and get more fish, and better protect them against otters this time.

"It's nice to know the wildlife is there. We live in the forest so we expected something but not quite as dramatic as that."

Prof Wynn, from the Wild New Forest group, said otters were making a comeback in the New Forest in recent years, following a decline in river water quality.

However, he said they were normally only spotted using remote cameras put out in the forest.

He added the footage "was amazing - we are so lucky to have otters back in the New Forest now, but we just don't see them because they are nocturnal - so we're really lucky to see that up close".

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