Eurasian Otter

Eurasian otter Latest News

The Eurasian otter, once believed to have disappeared from Jammu and Kashmir, has been recorded recently in the Sindh River in Ganderbal district.

About Eurasian otter

• It is also known as the European otter, common otter, and Old-World otter.
• It is a semiaquatic carnivorous mammal native to Eurasia.
• Distribution: It is mainly found in the Middle-East, Europe, Northern Africa, across to Eastern Russia, China, and other Asian countries.
• In India, it occurs in northern, northeast and southern India.
• Habitat: It lives in highland and lowland lakes, rivers, streams, marshes, swamp forests, and coastal areas, independent of their size, origin, or latitude.
• In the Indian subcontinent, it is found in cold hills and mountain streams.

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Features of Eurasian Otter

• It is an elusive, solitary otter.
• Adaptation: Adaptations for an aquatic lifestyle include webbed feet, the ability to close the small ears and the nose when under water, and very dense, short fur that traps a layer of air to insulate the animal.
• It has an acute sense of sight, smell, and hearing.
• Threats: Water pollution and hunting of the mammal for its fur.

Conservation Status of Eurasian Otter

• IUCN: Near threatened
• CITES:  Appendix I
• Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule II

Source: HT