Jin's island days numbered

Otter Jin's days of freedom may be numbered as her pursuers close in on her.

Day 13 of the otter's extended big day out from Auckland Zoo found Department of Conservation staff laying baited traps on Rangitoto Island, and on nearby Motutapu. The islands are linked by a causeway built during World War II.

A DoC spokeswoman said staff were confident Jin was in a 5km area around where she was spotted by a kayaker on Sunday morning.

Zoo spokeswoman Jane Healy said the kayaker spotted Jin just out of the water at 11.30am on Sunday, and was close enough to tell that she was wet. The kayaker alerted a boatie, who called the zoo at about 1pm after sighting the otter for himself.

Zoo and DoC staff were following up a number of unconfirmed sightings yesterday, but could not do much more than check to see if the traps had worked, said Ms Healy.

There was concern, however, that the cute animal story could take an ugly turn if the small carnivore travelled to fragile environments such as Tiritiri Matangi, home to rare native species such as takahe.

DoC staff return to the islands today to check traps.