3 women were injured in a 'vicious and relentless' otter attack in a Montana river, with one losing almost half of her right ear

• Three women were the victims of a brutal attack by an otter in a Montana river.
• The "vicious and relentless" attack left one woman requiring facial and ear surgery.

Three women were hospitalized in Montana after they were the victims of a vicious attack by an otter.

Jen Royce said that she and her friends were on a floating trip on the Jefferson River to celebrate her birthday when the animal attacked them.

"I saw one otter right behind my friend before it attacked. I didn't even have a chance to get the words 'there is an otter behind you' out of me before it attacked her," she wrote in a Facebook post, which included graphic photos of her injuries.

She said that the otter was "vicious and relentless" and bit her all over her body in an attack that lasted around five minutes.

"Without ANY exaggeration, God's honest truth, I did not think I was going to make it out of that river. I had no clue if my friends were going to make it out. But by the grace of God, we did," she wrote.

"I was covered in blood and it just kept pouring out of my face and nose. It was cold. We were wet. It was dark," Royce added.

After escaping the river, the three women had to wait nearly an hour for help to arrive, the post says.

Royce said she was eventually airlifted to hospital, where she received stitches and underwent surgery on her face and ears.

She said she now had "more stitches in my body than I can count," puncture wounds all over her body, and had lost almost half of her right ear. She also had have several rabies shots.

Her two friends were also taken to hospital to have their wounds treated.

In an update to a GoFundMe page that was set up to help cover the medical expenses, Royce said the trauma of the attack would be difficult to get over.

The incident is one in a string of recent otter attacks across the US, including one involving Succession actor Crystal Finn in northern California.

While otter attacks on humans are rare, they can be hostile if they feel threatened.

Royce asked people not to victim shame and said she wanted to clarify that she and her friends did not intentionally get close to the animal.

North American River Otters can grow three to 4½ feet long, with the tail constituting 35-40% of the animal's total length and weighing up to 34 pounds.