IUCN/SSC Otter Specialist Group Bulletin

©IUCN/SCC Otter Specialist Group

Volume 28 Issue 1 Pages 1- 60 (January 2011)

Book Reviews
Previous | Contents | Next

THE OTTER FRIENDLY FISHFARMER

A couple of years ago, Stéphane Raimond, a young fishfarmer from the region Limousin, France, had to face serious losses through otter predation. Never trying to “eliminate” the Problem, he looked for positive answers. Thanks to the help of local nature conservation organisations and to funding by the “Direction Régionale de l’Environnement du Limousin”, his trout-farm could be protected by an otter-proofed fence.

After many nights spent observing otters in order to find a way to keep them away from his fishes, Stéphane Raimond started to get fascinated by those animals. Nowadays, he is even one of their protectors and became famous in France as the “otter friendly fishfarmer”. Stéphane wrote a book to tell his story, “A l’affût des loutres”, with plenty of great otter pictures taken by himself. The story is also told in a film “Le banquet des Loutres” available on DVD. Book and DVD (only available in French) can be purchased from the French Mammal Society (www.sfepm.org/boutique.htm).

 

Oldemar Carvalho Junior, Member OSG

Este livro tem como principal objetivo servir de referência básica à cursos de oceanografia, biologia e geografia que possuem no conteúdo disciplinas relacionadas à oceanografia física. O conteúdo também serve como introdução ao estudo da dinâmica oceânica, em particular, à interação entre oceano e atmosfera e modelos de circulação em larga escala. A parte matemática é colocada dentro de um mínimo aceitável. Os aspectos relacionados com a interação entre o oceano e atmosfera são abordados nos dois primeiros capítulos. O capítulo 3 apresenta as leis fundamentais em oceanografia, analisando as equações do movimento através de uma descrição detalhada de cada componente. O capitulo final trata dos principais parâmetros da oceanografia física, a temperatura, a salinidade e a densidade. Esperamos que essa publicação seja útil aos alunos e outros interessados, e consiga transmitir um pouco da grandiosidade desse tema tão excitante que é a oceanografia física.

(available at Amazon).

THE OTTER

James Williams, Member OSG

Back from the brink of extinction, the otter is making a come-back in Britain today. Author James Williams, a life-long enthusiast of this fascinating, enigmatic creature, dispells some the mysteries in this beautifully-illustrated book: Reasons for the near-disappearance of the otter in the 1980s and the reasons for its recovery today; Why otters patrol their territories and fight for them; Breeding, natural history and behavior; Unusual otter information: blind otters, the work of otter groups, the difficulties of introducing otters in the wild, their surprising ability to live close to man; Otters as predators - their impact on fish stocks, the difficulty of fish-hunting in cold water, their favourite foods; Tracking otters through their prints, and through their spraints; Helping the otter to survive in the 21st century.

James Williams has spent a lifetime otter watching, from his boyhood in the Lake District, to his adult life in Somerset. He taught English in Taunton, but his west-country residence gave him the opportunity to study and record the changing fortunes of this elusive and fascinating mammal, from its near-extinction in the mid-1980s to its remarkable, though precarious, recovery today. Actively involved in many initiatives to monitor and aid the otter's restoration, Chairman of the Somerset Wildlife Trust's Otter Group, James continues to train and inspire a new generation of otter-enthusiasts through his popular training days and his role in various surveys."

(available at Amazon).

 

Previous | Contents | Next