IUCN/SCC Otter Specialist Group Bulletin
© IUCN/SCC Otter Specialist Group

Volume 2 Pages 1 - 58 (March 1987)

Abstracts

An Action Plan for the Conservation of Otters
Pages 2 - 4 (Viewpoint)
Simon Stuart
Abstract
The Species Survival Commission recommend that the Otter Specialist Group prepare species action plans to enable information to be shared, raise the profile of otter species in conservation organisations and encourage coordination of joint proposals for funding..
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The Smooth-Coated Otter in Nepal
Pages 5 - 8
Susan J. Houghton
Abstract
This study has shown that the Smooth-coated otter is common along the length of the Naryani river and that it relies heavily on fish. It also suggests their feeding habits are sufficiently flexible to adapt to local variations in their food supply. A comparison of river banks suggests human activities decrease the availability of suitable habitat and over-fishing decreases food supply. Extensive deforestation in the hills causes flooding and increases the turbidity of the lowland changing both the aquatic environment and the river's topography. Pollution, resulting from chemical discharge is increasingly an important problem in Nepal.  Without an effective management plan controlling these, those animal species dependent on the riverine system may rapidly decrease in number or even disappear permanently.
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Contaminant Research in Canada
Pages 9 - 11 (Report)
Christopher Wren
Abstract:
During the 1983/84 and 1984/85 trapping seasons, carcasses of river otter (Lutra canadensis) were collected for contaminant analysis from trappers in Ontario. The studies identified clear differences in tissue levels of Hg,  Pb and Cd between different collection areas. There is evidence to support Hg poisoning as the cause of death in at least one otter along this river system. The studies emphasize the potential interactions of toxic chemicals with each other and with natural stresses (e.g. cold, starvation, disease). More research is required along these lines since simultaneous exposure to more than one chemical and other stresses is more typical of conditions in the wild.
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The River Otter Live Capture Program in Ontario, Canada
Pages 12 - 20 (Report)
Brenda Penak and Ted Code
Abstract:
The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) initiated a project to live-trap river otter (Lutra canadensis canadensis) in 1984.  This report described the successful trapping, handling, transfer and reintroduction protocol used.
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The Current Status of the Sea Otter Population in California (December 1986)
Pages 21 - 25 (Report)
Jack Ames
Abstract:
It has proved difficult to devise a population census method that is reliable, and the efforts to do so are reviewed. Whether the population has remained stable or declined slightly, the fact remains that a population that had been growing at a rate of approximately five percent per year has not grown for more than a decade. This lack of population growth remains a significant point of concern. However, new net fishing restrictions and the fact that the geographic range of the sea otter in California has continued to increase, lead us to conclude that future increases in population size in California are likely. In the worst of all scenarios, were the Californian population of sea otters to be exterminated, a new population could be started from Alaskan sea otters. Such transplanted populations currently thrive in British Columbia, Canada and the state of Washington.
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First Data on Contamination of Otters in the Netherlands
Pages 27 - 32 (Report)
Sim Broekhuizen
Abstract:
In the last decades otters became rather rare in The Netherlands. Consequently, during the last years only a few otters that were found dead became available for scientific examination. Recently, the chemical department of the Research Institute for Nature Management analyzed liver and kidney tissue of three otters. In two of them, PCB levels exceeded the level known to cause reproductive failure in Mink; these otters did not come from industrialised areas.
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The Dutch Otterstation Foundation
Pages 33 - 37 (Report)
A. W. J. J. de Jongh
Abstract:
With the declining numbers of otters in The Netherlands, came the impetus to start a Dutch foundation for the study of otters, hoping to reverse the trend.  This article describes the history and role of the Dutch Otterstation Foundation and outlines current research.
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The Otter And Its Conservation In The Valencian Region (E. Spain)
Pages 37 - 41 (Report)
Juan Jímenez
Abstract:
In Valencia, demands on water resources are high.  This report covers three otter populations in the area, and indicates what should be done to ensure their continued existence.  Otters were found in only 40% of the areas they inhabited in the 1960s.
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European River Otter Studbook
Pages 42 - 44 (Report)
Klaus Robin
Abstract:
At the end of 1985, 106 otters were kept in captivity in Europe.  Breeding success and factors influencing this are reviewed, as are the problems facing stud book keeping - lack of information about genetic origin, non-cooperation by otter keepers, supply of siblings to other zoos leading to accidental inbreeding and difficulties in placing all offspring bred.
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Organochlorine Residues in Otter Spraints from Hungary
Pages 50 - 51 (Report)
Chris Mason
Abstract:
These results are based on small samples and are clearly preliminary, but the mean organochlorine load in spraints from the three populations is inversely related to our assessment of the size of these populations, based on spraint numbers. More detailed work in Britain is currently in progress; similar studies in Hungary could prove highly illuminating.

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