A second person has been hurt in an Anchorage otter attack in three weeks

An adult was injured by a river otter on Aug. 18 along Campbell Creek near Taku Park, the second person hurt in an Anchorage otter attack in about three weeks. The otter approached the adult and a group of children along the creek. In late July, a child on a paddleboard was bitten after running into a group of four otters on Sand Lake in West Anchorage.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is warning people around local lakes and creeks, especially dog walkers and paddleboarders, to carry a noise maker or bear spray, leave the area if an otter approaches, and report aggressive animals. Otters can be territorial, the department said, and pets should be kept away from them. The department said it would remove animals behaving unusually if public safety required it.

Attacks are rare but not new here. In a 2021 warning, the department described a child bitten near Dowling Road and Lake Otis Parkway and a woman bitten while rescuing her dog at University Lake. Because otters move through the connected lakes and streams that run across the municipality, the department said it does not know which animals are responsible for the recent attacks.

No case of rabies in river otters has been reported in Southcentral Alaska in recent years, the department said, though it cautioned that disease is a risk in any wildlife encounter.