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IUCN/SCC Otter Specialist Group Bulletin Volume 19 Issue 1 Pages 1 - 61 (April 2002) IUCN/SCC OSG Group From the Chairman's Desk When I recently asked the OSG Coordinators for some aspects, which should be mentioned in this issue of our Bulletin I was really happy to learn from their answers just how many activities are going on initiated by OSG members. Jan Nel, our Continental Coordinator for Africa, informed me that Michael Somers has completed his project on "Habitat utilisation by Cape clawless otters Aonyx capensis", has received his PhD, and has been appointed as Senior Lecturer at the University of Transkei. He will be starting up some new projects on otters (both Aonyx capensis and Lutra maculicollis) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa as soon as he takes up his position. Congratulations also from my side to Michael Somers. Assisted by Jan Nel, Hélène Jacques and Anabela Trindade, I also finished the preparation of a leaflet entitled "Information wanted on African otters", which will be available soon in English, French and Portuguese, and additionally as a pdf file via internet in German, Afrikaans and, hopefully, in some other languages. In parallel, Anna Krekemeyer, our GIS officer at Aktion Fischotterschutz, has prepared a databank for information on the distribution of African otters, which we hope to receive by the questionnaire included in the leaflet. Though a little step, it is a step forward in increasing our knowledge on the distribution of otters in Africa. Many activities were reported by Padma de Silva, our Continental Coordinator for Asia. Two workshops took place recently, which I had the pleasure of joining. Organised by the Otter Research Group of Japan, the Kien Giang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and CARE International, a workshop on "Conservation and Public Awareness of Otters in U Minh Thuong Nature Reserve, Vietnam" was held at Rach Gia on February 25-26. In collaboration with the Otter Research Group of Japan, the Wildlife Trust of India and the IUCN/SSC Otter Specialist Group, a second workshop took place at New Delhi on March 3-4 on "Otters as Ambassadors of Wetlands". I hope that the proceedings of these two meetings will be available soon. Research projects in Asia were enabled by funds provided to the Asian Otter Secretariat from Columbus Zoo, USA. The projects are related to aspects such as "Survey of otters in the uplands of Sri Lanka" (researcher: Padma de Silva), "Survey on the hairy-nosed otter in Phru Toa Daeng peat swamp forest in Thailand" (researcher: Budsabong Kanchanasaka), "Survey on the hairy-nosed otter in U Minh Thuong forest in Vietnam" (researcher: N.X. Dang), "The use of otters in fishing in Sunderbans, Bangladesh" (researcher: M. Feeroz), "Survey of otters in Lake Periyar, India" (researcher: S.A. Hussain), and "Survey of the hairy-nosed otter in WayKambas National Park, Indonesia" (researcher: Reza Lubis). Some of these projects received additional funds from the Otter Research Group of Japan and also from the International Otter Survival Fund, UK. In particular, these funds are given for the work on Lutra sumatrana. Presence of this species has only been confirmed so far for Thailand and Vietnam. Further, several countries are involved in preparing awareness materials on otters for the general public, e.g. Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. So, from my point of view, our Asian colleagues are doing quite a good job. This is also true if I look at what Jessica Groenendijk, our Species Coordinator for the giant otter, reports on activities related to Pteronura brasiliensis in Latin America. Together with Frank Hajek, she was able to start an environmental education program at Lake Sandoval in Peru. This oxbow lake, within the Tambopatata National Reserve, hosts a group of giant otters, but is also a preferred education and nature tourism destination for both inhabitants of the nearby town of Puerto Maldonado as well as national and foreign tourists. More than 5,000 people visiting this area per year cause so much disturbance, especially to the giant otters, that the otters stopped reproducing. Now structured environmental education activities are to be implemented to chanalise tourism and to train people how to behave in such an ecosystem. Another activity of Jessica and Frank's Frankfurt Zoological Society Giant Otter Project could become an important contribution to the conservation of the giant otter over its whole range. They are organising a two-week Regional Giant Otter Survey Methodology and Habitat Management Field Training Course, to take place towards the end of 2002, visiting two protected areas in south-eastern Peru. The objectives of the course are to train a maximum of five persons from all over South America who are planning to start (or have recently begun) projects involving giant otter surveys and monitoring, and habitat management. The idea is to begin to ensure that the same survey and monitoring methodology is used in different countries, and that results can be usefully compared according to different habitats. In addition, the course will address the management of tourism so that it can become a force for conservation rather than a threat to the species. For more information, contact Jessica Groenendijk or Frank Hajek at fzsgop@terra.com.pe Some weeks ago, I not only had the pleasure of observing sea otters on the coast of California but also of meeting Andrew Johnson, the project manager of the unique Monterey Aquarium, Matthew Rutishauser, the science director of Friends of the Sea Otter, and David Jessup, the senior wildlife veterinarian and supervisor of the Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center of the California Department of Fish and Game. I was pleased to see the extensive precautions, which are taken so as to be prepared for the rescue of otters in the case of an oil spill, as well as the numerous research projects on sea otters and the very professional rehabilitation program of the Monterey Aquarium for orphaned sea otter cubs. I hope that this visit could lead to a closer cooperation between the OSG and the sea otter people. Whether these efforts will have been successful may be seen at the next International Otter Colloquium which Tom Serfass, our Continental Coordinator for North America is now starting to prepare. As a first rough idea, June 2004 to be the date when this event will take place at the Frostburg State University in Maryland/USA. European otter people should also mark a date in their diary. The 4th European Congress of Mammalogy will be held from July 27 until August 1, 2003 in Brno, Czech Republic. Michaela Bodner, our Continental Coordinator for Europe, together with Marcela Kucerova, our National Representative for the Czech Republic, are planning a specific otter workshop and a meeting of the European section of the OSG as part of this congress. Further good news related to the Czech Republic can be announced referring to the proceedings of the VII. International Otter Colloquium, which was held in Trebon/Czech Republic in 1998. Thanks to the enormous efforts of Arno Gutleb and Jim Conroy, the various attempts to publish these proceedings finally succeeded. We all should thank the editors of this special issue of our Bulletin because it contains so much important information on otters that it would have been a shame to loose it. The efforts of Amo and Jim also deserve special appreciation as, in parallel, they edited, together with Paul Yoxon, the proceedings of the First Otter Toxicology Conference, which was held in September 2000 on the Isle of Skye. An interesting discussion is going on in Europe about the necessity of otter release projects. Jordi Ruiz-Olmo, our National Representative for Spain, published a remarkable conservation plan for the otter in Catalonia and reports also on the re-introduction project. This involved the release 42 otters, originating from Extramadura, and took place from 1995 until 2000 on the river basins of the Rivers Muga and Fluviaà. As a result of the very extensive evaluation of this project he came to the conclusion that "despite the contribution that has been made to the recovery of this semi-aquatic carnivore in NE Catalonia, it is modest in comparison to the spontaneous recovery that has occurred in the Western half of Catalonia. Habitat conservation and efforts to improve the quality of the water (non-intrusive conservation) are considered to be more effective than re-introduction (intrusive conservation through the handling of individuals of extraneous origin), more economical and they provide overall benefits for the whole ecosystem". Despite this experience in Spain, and in spite of the remarkable recovery of the otter to the west, which is obvious for instance from my recently published report on the results of the current otter survey in Lower Saxony (the neighbouring German federal state to the Netherlands), and in spite of the findings of genetic differences in the European otter population (e.g. by Ettore Randi and by John Dallas), the Dutch government announced recently that approximately 40 otters from Belarus and Latvia will be released in the Netherlands, starting with 12 specimens in May/June 2002. Many Dutch and German conservationists protest against this project, not the least because the Dutch government ignored the decision of the Otter Specialist Group, that all otter release projects in Europe need to be evaluated by the Reintroduction Advisory Committee (RAC) of the OSG. There are some initiatives to take this matter to the court, possibly via the European Commission or the European Court of Justice, especially because some people feel that this project offends against some regulations of the Fauna-Flora-Habitat-Directive. Such a judicial inquiry could produce interesting results for the further work of the RAC and could possibly define the general framework for release projects in more detail. Finally, I have to announce that, with the help of my assistant Mark Ehlers, we have started to establish our own OSG website. My organisation, Aktion Fischotterschutz, will host this website on our server. We have already prepared the first pages and are currently trying to reserve our own OSG address. As soon as this website will be available, all members of the OSG will be informed immediately. Distribution of such information will be much easier now due to a special e-mail listserver for OSG members, kindly established by Janice Reed-Smith and Bob Fetterman. This abbreviated summary
will confirm what I said in the beginning: there are many activities
going on initiated by OSG members. I am aware that there are
others, as for instance our ongoing efforts to prepare the new global
Otter Action Plan. I hope that in my report in the next issue of our
Bulletin, I can not only describe the progress of this voluminous
task, but also as many new projects as I was able to introduce
this time. |
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