IUCN/SSC Otter Specialist Group Bulletin
IUCN/SCC Otter Specialist Group Bulletin
© IUCN/SCC Otter Specialist Group
Volume 27 Issue 3 Pages 123- 166 (December 2010)
Abstracts
The History and Current Status of Otter Research within Canada based on Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Pages 127 - 133 (Report)
Michael Belanger, Nesime Askin, Luke Tan and Carin Wittnich
In Canada, there are two species of otters, the river otter (Lontra canadensis)
and the sea otter (Enhydra lutris). The river otter is considered to
be plentiful and ranges throughout a large part of Canada. On the other hand,
the sea otter is classified as of Special Concern and only small translocated
colonies are found along the coastline of Vancouver Island and British Columbia.
The scientific literature was reviewed with respect to both river and sea otter
research performed within Canada since 1970 to evaluate the number and topics
of research papers that had been published dealing with these otter species.
Since 1970, 25 papers have been published, most of the research concentrating
on contaminants (mercury, organochlorines) in river otters (80%). There is only
1 scientific paper (1978) dealing with the sea otter (4%). Almost half of publications
studying river otters were from or in combination from the province of Ontario
(48%). Miscellaneous topics made up 16% of the publications. This paper reveals
that in Canada very little scientific work has been published dealing with sea
otters and that a huge number of the publications deal with river otters
found within the province of Ontario. Thus since 1970, there has been a serious
lack of research dealing with either otter species and that most of that work
has had no structure or focus. It is hoped that government agencies, the scientific
community, non government organizations, and interested groups can organize
strategies and granting opportunities to increase the amount of scientific studies
to further understand and protect future populations of these 2 species in Canada.
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Neotropical Otter (Lontra longicaudis)
Records in Puebla, Central Mexico
Pages 134 - 136 (Short Note)
Osvaldo Eric Ramírez-Bravo
This study, presents new historical and actual reports of neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis) confirming its presence in the Sierra Norte, state of Puebla, Mexico.
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Carbofuran - A New and Effective Method of Illegal Killing of Otters (Lutra lutra) in the Czech Republic
Pages 137 - 146 (Report)
Kateřina Poledníková, Jitka Větrovcová, Lukáš Poledník, Václav Hlaváč
Carbofuran - a poison recently used to illegally kill otters - is described from the Czech Republic. Six different cases of illegal poisoning of otters have been discovered since 2006 with a total number of 14 killed individuals. Apart from otters, many other animals - namely raptors and other carnivores - have been poisoned by carbofuran in the Czech Republic as well. The poisoning substance is now banned in the EU, however, it has been widely used in agriculture as insecticide and large supplies are generally available. This fact together with relative ease of using it can pose a threat to otter population, especially in areas with raising conflict between otter protection and fish farming. Therefore, it is important to report any suspicious cases of dead wildlife, to immediately carry out laboratory testing in such cases, and to inform relevant officials including the police. It will help monitor the problem and raise local awareness, and could possibly help to catch some persecutors. Taking these actions should be the first step in trying to stop poisoning wildlife by carbofuran.
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The Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra) in Slovakia – A Preliminary Report from a Survey
Pages 147 - 157 (Report)
Peter Urban
The first national survey of otter distribution in Slovakia was carried out in winter 2007/2008. The mapping was done using the modified standard IUCN/OSG methodology. Results were obtained from 275 "Databank of Slovak Fauna (DSF)" quadrates (64 % out of 429 DSF quadrates). The second mapping was carried out in winter 2008/2009 in 54 DSF quadrates (12.6 % out of 429 quadrates). In total, this covered 292 quadrates (88.7% out of checked quadrates; 61% out of all 429 quadrates in the Slovak Republic); in 36 quadrates (1% and 8%, respectively), no otters were recorded. The third one-off otter mapping on the whole Slovak territory (in all 429 quadrates) was carried out in summer 2010 with the “standard” method: 349 quadrates (81.4%) were positive and 80 quadrates (18.7%) were negative. The otter occurs in most parts of the country with the exception of parts of the Western and South-Eastern lowlands of Slovakia. Otter signs were found in all types of water bodies and channels of all sizes and in different types of reservoirs (dams, ponds, fishponds) in various land cover classes.
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Aquatic Macrophyte Vegetation and its Relationship to the Occurrence of the Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra) in the Hron River (Slovakia)
Pages 158 - 165 (Report)
Peter Urban, Richard Hrivnák, Helena Oťaheľová, Karol Weis
The relationship between the presence of the otter, expressed by its sign behaviours (scent marks and spraints making) and the qualitative characteristics of aquatic macrophytes was studied in the Hron River (Slovakia). Based on macrophytes, it was possible to divide the Hron River into two sections. The upper section is relatively poor in species (species number – 3) when comparing it to the lower section (3.5). We suspect that, regarding the dominant influence of food availability, there only exists a very uncertain preference of visiting sections with a higher qualitative and quantitative representation of macrophytes in the watercourse. We found that in the lower section, that had a higher number of macrophytes, there were higher amounts of otter signs. The Hron River otter therefore seems to slightly prefer sections, which have greater macrophyte richness. However, differences in amount of otter signs between mentioned sections are relatively small and with statistically no significance.
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