Moor Otters attract visitors from across Europe as competition winners are announced
After receiving thousands of entries from across Europe, the team behind the Moor Otters project has announced the lucky winners of the Otter Spotter competition.
Over 3,500 ‘Otter Spotters’ have been seeking out the artistic life-sized otter statues to be in with a chance of winning. Participants had to list the names and codes of 20 or more otters to be entered into the draw with the chance to win a range of prizes.
Harvey Camsell won first prize, a one night family B&B stay at Moorland Garden Hotel with dinner. Second prize, an Afternoon Tea for four at Bovey Castle was won by Lyndsey Cahill and Lily Summafield won third prize, a two night stay in a Studio Lodge at Harford Bridge Park. More details of the prizes and winners can be found at www.moorotters.co.uk
Decorated in various styles by a range of internationally-renowned artists, the otter sculptures have been welcoming thousands of visitors from across Europe. Entries have been flooding in from across the UK, Spain, Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, France and Switzerland.
Dave Southern, Project Manager for the Moor Otters campaign, said: “We are delighted to announce the winners of the Moor Otters competition and we’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who entered. We had thousands of entries from across Europe which just goes to show how successful the Moor Otters project has been. It’s amazing to know that the project and the work behind it is being recognised internationally. We’d also like to say thank you to all our partners who generously donated such amazing prizes.”
After spending over three months delighting visitors to Dartmoor National Park and the surrounding area, all 101 Moor Otters have been rounded up, ready to go to their new homes. Art lovers can bid on the 31 ‘Golden Otters’, a selection of themed otter sculptures that have been decorated in various styles, at a live auction on Saturday 30th September. Hosted by fine art auctioneers Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood, the auction will take place at 2:00pm at the company’s Exeter auction house on Okehampton Street.
Keen collectors can place their bids early through the online auction which is currently live. All 31 ‘Golden Otters’ are available to bid on, alongside the main collection of 70 sculptures. Bidding on the ‘Golden Otters’ will end before the live auction starts, this will form the reserve at the live auction. However, bidders keen to own an otter from the main collection will have the chance to bid up until 6pm on Wednesday 4th October for their favourite.
Launched in June, the Moor Otters project positioned 101 otter sculptures in various locations across Dartmoor and surrounding towns. The public arts initiative aims to raise £100,000 in support of Dartmoor National Park. Proceeds from the auction will fund projects to conserve and enhance Dartmoor’s wildlife and landscape, improve accessibility to the moor and develop Dartmoor’s Junior Ranger programme, which supports educational access and engages young people in conservation projects.
The trail was the first of its kind for a National Park and the support of our valued partners is very much appreciated in its success. The following organisations have pledged their support for the campaign: South West Water, Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood, Absolute PR and Marketing, Western Morning News, Melchior Chocolates, Jolly Roger, SW Colour Laboratories, Mail Boxes Etc and Bovey Castle.
To start bidding, visit: https://galabid.com/auction/otters