The throat and cheeks are silvery to yellowish gray. The velvety thick fur is the most durable North American fur and has been in demand ever since Europeans came to this continent. Even today, people hunt otters for their fur. In recent years, more than 50,000 otters have been taken in North America. The otter harvest in Louisiana sometimes exceeds 10,000 animals, higher than in any other state.
Otters have few natural enemies, especially in water.
On land, young otters are vulnerable to a variety of predators such as the fox, wolf and raptors. Most otter mortality is related to humans. Legal otter harvests remove animals above what the habitat will support. Otters are fairly easily trapped and accidental trapping, primarily in beaver traps, is a problem. River otters do well in Alaska and most of Canada, in the Pacific Northwest, the Great Lakes and most states along the Atlantic Coast and Gulf of Mexico.