IUCN/SSC Otter Specialist Group Bulletin
© IUCN/SCC Otter Specialist Group
Volume 29 Issue 1 Pages 1 - 67 (January 2012)
Abstracts
Data on Lontra longicaudis (Carnivora: Mustelidae) Mortality in Southeast and Southern Brazil
Pages 5 - 8 (Report)
Fernando Marques Quintela, Fabiano Aguiar da Silva, Clodoaldo Lopes de Assis and Vanessa Cardoso Antunes
Herein we present data on Lontra longicaudis mortality in Minas Gerais (n=12) and Rio Grande do Sul (n=14) states, Southeastern and Southern Brazil, respectively. In Minas Gerais most deaths were caused by entanglement and drowning in fishing gear (n=5; 42%), followed by roadkill (n=3; 25%), dog attack (n=2; 17%), hunting and undetermined cause (n=1; 8% each). In Rio Grande do Sul, the major cause of death was roadkill (n=10; 72%), followed by hunting (n=2; 14%), dog attack and undetermined cause (n=1; 7% each). The habitats associated with the highest number of deaths were reservoirs in Minas Gerais (n=8, 67%) and pluvial channels in Rio Grande do Sul (n=7, 50%).
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Assessment of Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) Diet in Kachemak Bay, Alaska (2008-2010)
Pages 15 - 23 (Article)
Angela Doroff, Oriana Badajos, Karen Corbell, Dana Jenski and Melanie Beaver
Long-term monitoring of a keystone species’ diet contributes to our understanding of shifts in the structure of an ecosystem. Sea otters were extirpated from Kachemak Bay, Alaska by 1911 and returned to the region through natural recolonization beginning in the 1970s. The sea otter population increased from <1,000 in the 1990s to 3,600 in 2008. In Kachemak Bay we describe the diet based on results from scat analyses and visual observation. Scat collection is only feasible in winter months and analysis is biased toward species where hard parts of prey are ingested. Scats were collected over a one-week period October - May during 2008-10. Dominant prey types for all samples combined were mussel (41%), crab (32%), and clam (12%). The combined proportion of these prey observed visually were clam (38%), mussel (14%) and crab (2%). Scat analysis will be a useful tool in identifying trends in winter consumption of crab and mussel, but will exclude identification of larger bivalve and soft-bodied prey. Kachemak Bay is primarily a soft-sediment benthic habitat, which is suitable habitat for clams and crabs. In the 1970s, commercially valuable crab and clam species were abundant in this area. We evaluate scat analysis as a low-cost tool to monitor long-term trends in the winter diet for sea otters in Kachemak Bay.
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Factors Influencing Distribution of Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra) in Swat and Dir Districts, Pakistan
Pages 24 - 33 (Article)
Imran Ullah, Uzma Noureen, Masood Arshad and Waqar Jadoon
This study assessed the distribution of Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra) through community-based survey followed by their potential habitat investigation in two districts of Khyber Pukhtoon-khwa (KPK), Pakistan. Results of the study indicated that Sheer Palam, Tormang, Patrak, Kalkot and Tal (Upper Dir), Madyan, Baronial, Mankial and Peshmal (Swat) are the key habitats to host Eurasian otters. Secondary data (community questionnaires) indicated 79% people consider that Eurasian otters are permanent residents in the study area, 12.5% thought otters were seasonal migrants while 8.5% people were not able to report otter status. Of the 31 sites surveyed, only nine sites were found to be positive for otter presence. The results indicated that the distribution range of the otter covers some potential areas of Swat and Upper Dir in Pakistan. This study concludes that otter population is more vulnerable in areas of dense human population. Anthropogenic activities are greatly influencing the presence of otters in the region and thus need an immediate action for the recovery of this declining population.
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Local Perceptions and Implications for Giant Otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) Conservation around Protected Areas in the Eastern Brazilian Amazon
Pages 34 - 45 (Article)
Fernanda Michalski, Paula C. Conceição, Joyce A. Amador, Juliana Laufer and Darren Norris
The local success of protected areas for effective biodiversity conservation depends largely on ensuring the integration of local communities and the persistence of wildlife species and ecological processes. We investigated the perceptions of riverine residents living around a sustainable-use protected area towards giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis). Between March and December 2011, we conducted 41 interviews with riverine residents in the region of the National Forest of Amapá (AP, Brazil). These interviews revealed a strong negative attitude towards giant otters, highlighted by recent reports of otters being killed in 12.2% of the interviews. Generalized linear models showed that years of education and age weakly predicted attitudes towards otters in the study area (i.e., respondents with the longest time in education and older were less likely to dislike otters and to consider giant otters as damaging income or fishing activities, respectively). These results suggested that to conserve giant otters in this region efforts should focus on environmental education and long-term research projects.
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Restoration of the Otter Habitats in Luxembourg and Belgium: 5-Year Actions in Favour of the Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra)
Pages 46 - 61 (Article)
Gerard Schmidt, Alain Dohet, Lionel l’Hoste, Aurore Boscher,
Henry-Michel Cauchie, Jonathan Plon, Nicolas Nederlandt,
Helene Ghyselinck, Sven Plattes, Eva Rabold, Annick Mousel, Beatrice Casagranda, Patrick Thommes, Yves Krippel, Anne Scheer, Bob Glesener, Mireille Molitor, Claude Schiltz, Lucien Hoffmann and Christine Leclercq
In 2005, 7 partners including 5 Nature Parks (Haute-Sûre, Haute-Sûre Forêt d’Anlier, Our, Hautes Fagnes-Eifel, Two Ourthes), the Hëllef fir d´Natur foundation and the Centre de Recherche Public (Gabriel Lippmann) proposed a LIFE-Nature Project to preserve and restore the habitats of the last otters in Luxembourg and Belgium.
This wide and cross-border project aimed to improve the otter’s habitats and try to build or rebuild corridors between the two important otter populations located in France and Germany in order to facilitate the migration of the species and to contribute to re-establish stable otter populations in our countries.
To reach these objectives, the following actions were defined:
(1) improvement of the natural fish productivity (by the restoration of 6 spawning grounds and the removal of 21 obstacles for fish migration),
(2) decrease the impacts related to the presence of cattle alongside rivers (installation of 262 drinking troughs, 61 km of fences, 23 footbridges),
(3) promotion of native tree species by the early cutting of spruce forests in floodplains (150 ha),
(4) exploitation of the woods while respecting watercourses,
(5) stimulation of connections between catchment’s areas by planting the riverbanks with native trees and shrubs (23 km) and the digging of ponds (178),
(6) installation of secure passageways under bridges for the otter but also for small mammals (the management of 9 otter passages),
(7) creation of nature reserves (105 ha) and otter havens (31) and finally (8) management of invasive plants (189 ha) in the Natura 2000 areas.
Public awareness was also an important element of the project with the production of a travelling exhibition and an educational file. Moreover, a network of otter observers composed of volunteers was set up to try to find footprints and spraints in the study area between 2007 and 2010.
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