Yes, the Missouri Dept of Conservation brought them back. From what I’m hearing, they are providing traps to help control them now. That’s not official, as I would guess they aren’t admitting publicly what a mistake it is/was.
9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep. RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these. I think that's about all I should put in my little pond. Otter attack in 2023