Medina-Barrios, O and Morales-Betancourt, D (2019). Notes on the Behaviour of Neotropical River Otter (Lontra longicaudis) in Palomino River (La Guajira, Colombia). IUCN Otter Spec. Group Bull. 36 (1): 34

©IUCN/SCC Otter Specialist Group

Volume 36 Issue 1 (January 2019)

Citation: Medina-Barrios, O and Morales-Betancourt, D (2019). Notes on the Behaviour of Neotropical River Otter (Lontra longicaudis) in Palomino River (La Guajira, Colombia). IUCN Otter Spec. Group Bull. 36 (1): 34 - 47

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Notes on the Behaviour of Neotropical River Otter (Lontra longicaudis) in Palomino River (La Guajira, Colombia)

Oscar Medina-Barrios¹ and Diana Morales-Betancourt²

¹ Animal Care Coordinator, Fundación Botánica y Zoológica de Barranquilla, Cl. 77 #68-40 Barranquilla, Colombia, e-mail o.medina@zoobaq.org
² Project coordinator, Omacha foundation. Corresponding author e-mail: dianamoralesb@yahoo.com

Received 8th October 2018, accepted 23rd January 2019

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Abstract: The Neotropical river otter is a semiaquatic mammal that occupies a large geographic distribution. It habitually defecates in conspicuous areas on land; these indirect indicators are the focus of most of the studies that involve them, but little is known about species’ behaviour. In Colombia, the species is considered as Vulnerable and in the Northern area of the country (La Guajira) there are no studies focussed on it. In this paper, observations on L. longicaudis behaviour in the wild were made, as a first approach to it, while occurrence studies were carried out in the area. Observations were made in 2015 during the dry or non-raining season (February), in the middle and lower course of the Palomino River. Five observation sites were established along the river, and the observation method implemented was ad libitum sampling. As a result, a total of 31 different behaviours were recorded, from which immersion, breathing after immersion, superficial swimming and foraging were most frequent at 16%, 15.6%, 12.8%, and 10.7% respectively.

Keywords: Neotropical otter, otter behavior, Colombia endangered species, aquatic mammals.

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INTRODUCTION

The Neotropical river otter Lontra longicaudis (Olfers, 1818), member of the Mustelidae family, is a semiaquatic mammal that occupies a wide geographical distribution, occurring from Mexico to the north of Argentina (Waldemarin and Colares, 2000; Arellano et al., 2012). The species is found in rivers and water bodies that can be fresh, marine or brackish water (Kasper et al., 2004). They are abundant in rivers where the riparian vegetation is dense and the root of the trees form galleries. Rivers with this kind of vegetation are usually clear water, flanked by large rocky blocks (Parera, 1996; Lariviére, 1999; Casariego-Madorell et al., 2006). Recently non-invasive molecular approaches estimated a linear density of one otter per km from in an Atlantic Forest area in Southern Brazil (Trinca et al., 2013) and radio-telemetry in a mangroves area showed a movement of 2.6 km (Nakano-Oliveira et al., 2004).

In general, they have a habit of defecating in conspicuous places of the aquatic body, (Wemmer et al., 1996; Kasper et al., 2004) or in the adjacent terrestrial ecosystem. This behavior is the focus of most of the studies that involve them, and are being used for the definition of areas of occurrence (Chehébar, 1985; Chehébar et al., 1986; Blacher, 1987; Kasper et al., 2004) and diet studies (Beja, 1991; Brezinski et al., 1993; Passamani and Camargo, 1995; Pardini, 1998; Quadros and Monteiro-Filho 2000; Quadros and Monteiro-Filho, 2001; Kasper et al., 2004). However, the social behavior of this species has been slightly studied (Gorman and Trowbridge, 1989; Kasper et al., 2004).

This species is currently included in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora- CITES Appendix I (2017), it is catalogue as Vulnerable in the Red List of Threatened Species of Colombia (Rodriguez et al., 2006), and is Near Threatened on a global scale by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature - IUCN (Rheingantz and Trinca, 2015). Nevertheless, their populations have declined due to the influence of anthropogenic activities such as hunting (Morales-Betancourt and Medina Barrios, 2018), spilling of industrial, and urban waste, drainages, intensive water extraction, high concentrations of pollutants (Gallo-Reynoso 1989; Foster-Turley et al., 1990; Sierra and Vargas 2002; Cirelli, 2005; Arellano et al., 2012), legal and illegal mining (industrial and artisanal), that modify the physical and chemical conditions of the water, the riverbeds and increase of deposits of heavy metals (Trujillo et al., 2013). In addition, other risk factors such as parasites, diseases, natural deaths, among others exists (Arellano et al., 2012). In general, due to its strong dependency of an adjacent terrestrial environment to the water bodies, river otters can be affected for negative changes of the margins of the tributaries (Foster-Turley et al., 1990; Quadros and Monteiro-Filho, 2002; Kasper et al., 2004; Santos et al., 2012; Trujillo et al., 2013).

As a contribution to the species, La Guajira’s Environmental Authority – Corpoguajira subscribe with Omacha Foundation the contract “Otter (Lontra longicaudis) conservation at the La Guajira department, with focus on Forest Protective Reserve Montes de Oca” that focused on studies on occurrence and specific threats to the species in the area, as well as implementation of community awareness activities. Final objective of these studies were, to serve as inputs for the elaboration of the Conservation management plan of the Neotropical otter (L. longicaudis) in La Guajira.

METHODOLOGY

Area of study

The Palomino River is located between Magdalena and La Guajira, the Northern region of Colombia. Palomino headwater is 4600 meters above sea level in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and main course is about 70 km length until its mouth in the Caribbean Sea (Neuta et al., 2017). The river water is extremely transparent, and people use the river for different activities as recreational (tubing and swimming) (Figure 1), harpoon fishing, clothes watching and sand and gravel extraction. Palomino beach is one of the emerging destinations for millennial tourist in Colombia since it has a snow mountain view and many trails that connect to the indigenous communities, in front of it the sea with surfing waves and hostels by the beach were the river ends. Although, no tourism development plan or tourism land use order had been implemented yet.

Gravel and sand river bank in the forground, river along the middle from left to right with people swimming and sunbathing, and on the far bank is thick vegetation with tall trees. — **Figure 1.** The upper image shows the middle part of the Palomino River where tourists swim, and the lower image shows leisure tubing activity; the log in the backkground is an otter latrine

River with person floating in a tyre inner tube, drinking from a bottle of water. There is a large log near the densely vegetated river bank. — **Figure 1.** The upper image shows the middle part of the Palomino River where tourists swim, and the lower image shows leisure tubing activity; the log in the backkground is an otter latrine

During the dry season of the year 2015 (February), sampling was carried out in the middle and low areas of the Palomino River (municipality of Dibulla, La Guajira department) by the riverbeds and banks (Figure 2), for a total of 3 km segmented in six transects. Latrines were identified and those with fresh faeces were selected to locate, close by, sighting station to increase possibility of direct L. longicaudis observation. Methodology for detection through direct observation was implemented (Anguera, 1986), with an ad libitum method, annotating the behaviour observed over a designated period of time or frequency (Gras et al., 1990).

Two photos of wide sandy and gravelly river bank with a wide, shallow water and thick vegetation, including trees, on the far bank. — **Figure 2.** Lower part of the Palomino River where the type of shrub and arboreal vegetation on the bank can be seen.

Five sighting stations were established, from P1 to P5, where P1 was the closest one to the river mouth and P5 the farthest from the sea. GPS references are shown in Table 1.


Table 1: Observation stations in the Palomino River (Department of La Guajira, Colombia).

Designation	Geographic Position	Metres above Sea Level
P1	N 11^o 14’ 54.7”; W 073^o 34’ 05.4”	16
P2	N 11^o 14’ 46.6”; W 073^o 34’ 04.1”	16
P3	N 11^o 13’ 54.3”; W 073^o 34’ 04.6”	181
P4	N 11^o 13’ 02.8”; W 073^o 34’ 50.9”	22
P5	N 11^o 12’ 59.4”; W 073^o 34’ 53.6”	22

The observation was made for a period of nine days, with a sampling effort 41 hours at not less than 20 meters from the latrines, with 143,07 minutes of behaviour observations.

An observational chart was made for each sighting of L. longicaudis, specifying time and activity executed and grouped the behaviours found in categories, as implemented by Duplaix (1980) for Giant river otter (Pteronura brasiliensis). There was more observation time at some points given the better accessibility.

RESULTS

Observation stations methodology for the direct observation using an ad libitum sample, made possible to register L. longicaudis four times, in four different days, three of them in the same latrine, observation station P1 located in the Global Positioning System- GPS Coordinates N 11^o 14’ 54.7”; W 073^o 34’ 05.4”. Fourth sighting occurred during the morning in observation station P2, GPS Coordinates N 11^o 14 ' 46.6 "; W 073° 34’ 04.1”, which is approximately 200 m from observation station P1.

RESULTS

The observation station methodology for the direct observation using an ad libitum sample resulted in recording L. longicaudis four times, on four different days. Three of the records were at the same latrine, at observation station P1, located at GPS Coordinates N 11^o 14’ 54.7”; W 073^o 34’ 05.4”. The fourth sighting occurred during the morning at observation station P2, GPS Coordinates N 11^o 14 ' 46.6 "; W 073° 34’ 04.1”, which is approximately 200 m from observation station P1.

In these four events, 31 different behaviours were recorded, of which immersion, respiration after immersion, surface swimming and foraging occupied the highest rate of frequencies with 16%, 15.6%, 12.8%, and 10.7% respectively (Figure 3). To group behaviors according to common characteristics (Table 2), variables described by Duplaix (1980) for Pteronura brasiliensis were used, since behavioural descriptors for L. longicaudis do not exist. Behaviors were clustered in groups and subgroups by Duplaix (1980) in order to facilitate the reading and to improve the understanding of the relations between behaviours.

The behaviours listed in Table 2, expressed on a bar graph, with the height of each bar corresponding to the frequency of that behaviour. The highest bars are immersion, breathing after immersion, surface swimming and catching fish. — **Figure 3.** Behaviours observed in *L. longicaudis* in Palomino River, La Guajira, Colombia.


Table 2: Groups, subgroup and behaviour unit observed in wild L. longicaudis in Palomino river, La Guajira, Colombia.

Characteristics of the behaviours*		Behaviour	% of frequency
Group	Subgroup	Behaviour	% of frequency
Senses	Observation	Looking at researcher (Figure 4)	7.4
Maintenance activities	Feeding	Fish consumption in surface swimming	0.4
		Fish consumption on land	0.4
		Grass consumption	2..9
		Caiman consumption (Figure 5)	3.3
Locomotion	Aquatic locomotion	Enter the water	2.5
		Exit the water	2.5
		Immersion	16
		Breathing after immersion	15.6
		Foraging: fishing (Figure 6)	10.7
		Superficial swimming (Figure 7)	12.8
		Leaps out of water	2.5
		Periscoping	0.4
	Terrestrial locomotion and postures	Walking	2.9
		Crawling (walking)	.1.2
		Crawling walking with caiman in mouth (Figure 8)	0.4
		Jogging (Figure 9)	4.5
		Jogging with caiman in mouth (Figure 10)	0.4
		Dragging caiman (Figure 11)	1.6
		Land game with caiman	0.4
		Hiding in grass-shore	2.1
		Settle in latrine (Figure 12)	1.2
Comfort Activities	Resting and sleeping postures - Rest	Repose (Figure 13)	0.8
	Cleaning - Scratching	Scratching with paw (Figure 14)	1.6
	Cleaning - Skin biting	Scratching with teeth	0.4
	Cleaning – Rolling and rubbing	Rubbing back and abdomen (Figure 15)	0.4
	Elimination - Defecation	Defecation in latrine	0.4
Social activities	Communication/Vocalization	Violent growl	0.4
	Communication/Vocalization	Low-intensity growl	0.4
	/Communication/Investigation and alarm - Alarm	Vocalization ¡HAH! (Figure 16)	2.5
	Investigation and alarm - Investigation	Exploratory looking, on land (Figure 17)	0.8

Based on groupings made by Duplaix (1980) for P. brasiliensis.*

In Figures 4 to 17, images of behaviours referred to in Table 2 are shown with descriptions.

Small creek runs across middle of image, with sandy bank occupying the lower half of the picture. The further bank is sandy, gently sloping, with dense vegetation. An otter is half in the water, tail to the right, and head turned to stare directly at the camera. — **Figure 4.** “Looking at the researcher” behaviour: after detecting the observer presence.

River on foreground. On further, sandy bank, with thick, leafy vegetation, an otter has its jaws round the lower body of a juvenile caiman about half its size — **Figure 5.** “Caiman consumption” behaviour: the ingestion of a juvenile spectacled caiman (*Caiman crocodilus fuscus*); feeding happened at the riverbank (Medina-Barrios and Morales-Betancourt, 2015).

Lower half of the image is the river, with a steep, reed-lined and well-vegetated river bank beyond. An otter is curving its back up as it dives. — **Figure 6.** “Foraging fishing” behaviour: the observed otters were swimming on the water surface and they dived at regular intervals. They lifted the chin, opening the mouth, taking in air, then lowered the chin, dipping the head, followed by curving the body into the water, finishing with the tail (Duplaix, 1980).

Overhanging bankside bushes and the edge of the river. Two otters are visible next to each other, swimming with their heads out of the water — **Figure 7.** “Superficial swimming” behaviour: (in a similar way to a dog) (Duplaix, 1980): in shallow waters, when entering from bank, with the head out of water.

Gravelly river bank in foreground, narrow water course across middle of image, with dense overhanging leafy vegetation. Otter is walking along in shallow water, partly under vegetation, with a small caiman in its mouth. — **Figure 8.** “Crawling walking with caiman in mouth” behaviour: movement with low body to avoid being seen.

Exposed sand bank with dense vegetation in the background. Otter moving from left to right, with characteristic humped back as it walks. — **Figure 9.** “Jogging” behaviour: crossing exposed areas of river bed to enter deeper water

Sandy river bank in the foreground with dense vegetation in the background and narrow water channel between. Otter moving from right to left, with characteristic humped back as it walks, with the head of a small caiman in its mouth and the boddy dragging alongside. — **Figure 10.** “Jogging with caiman in mouth” behaviour: seeking a safe refuge for prey consumption.

Water in the foreground, with a sandy flat river bank and dense leafy vegetation. Otter is plunging headfirst into the shrubs, dragging the small caiman with it. — **Figure 11.** “Dragging caiman” behaviour: to hide prey and be able to eat it in a refuge.

River in foreground, steep, densely vegetated bank behind, and large log alongside the bank, with otter spraint on top. An otter is hauling out to lie on the log. — **Figure 12.** “Settle in latrine” behaviour: possibly in order to improve visibility for detecting fish or threats.

Water in foreground, dense, overhanging leafy vegetation over very shallow water and a sandy substrate. Otter is lying on its front in the shade facing right, with its back legs and tail curled round to the right, head up. — **Figure 13.** “Repose” behaviour: Otter resting with flexed legs, ventral surface and tail resting on the substrate.

Sandy river bank with a narrow water channel running across the middle of the image and dense, overhanging, leafy vegetation behind. The otters are sitting next to each other on sandy substrate, the one on the left eating a caiman, and the one on the right rubbing on the sand. — **Figure 15.** “Rubbing back and abdomen” behaviour: when N2 was feeding on the juvenile caiman, N1 performed this activity by rubbing abdomen and back against substrate.

Sandy river bank with a narrow water channel running across the middle of the image and dense, overhanging, leafy vegetation behind. An otter has its head out of the water, glaring directly at the camera with the mouth open — **Figure 16.** “HAH! Vocalization” behaviour: N1 vocalized an alert multiple times when the researcher was noticed (Lariviére, 1999; Parera, 1993; Harris, 1968)

River in the foreground, with steep, densely vegetated river bank behind, with large overhanging grasses, and some large logs in the stream on the left. Otter is lying alongside the bank in the water with head raised and looking right alertly. — **Figure 17.** “Exploratory looking, on land” behaviour: N1 raises its head leaving the neck exposed and looks forward, perhaps to locate sources of different sounds, to locate things that have attracted attention or to search for conspecifics lost from sight.

DISCUSSION

From the observed behaviours, it was possible to identify juvenile spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus fuscus) being taken in riparian vegetaion on the riverbank (Medina-Barrios and Morales-Betancourt, 2015) and fish consumption in the water with the head raised out of the water, confirming that during the dry season in the lower Palomino river, this species behaves as an opportunistic predator, as had been previously documented in other areas of the continent.

In a 3 km length of river length, close to the active latrines, the most common behaviours were related to aquatic locomotion, and were only observed in the morning (from 6:58 am to 9:04 am). Tourist activity, such as tubing, occurs from 9 am to 6 pm. This could indicate that later in the day, the otters are engaged in other activities far from latrines, or it could be that human activities cause a reduction in activity, or temporal displacement to, for example, night time. Obviously, more behavioural studies are needed to complete the information on Neotropical otter habitat use in this type of rivers with the active presence of humans.

The environment of the latrine at which the four sets observations were made presented features that made it suitable (without being ideal) for the observing the activities of the otters, with bushes and herbaceous plants on the riverbank adjacent to water (Figure 2). This vegetation type was also reported by Santos and Reis (2012), and guaduales (Guadua angustifolia) vegetation was mentioned by Waldemarin (2004). For this reason, the conservation of bankside vegetation is crucial for the presence of the otter in the Palomino River.

Acknowledgements: The authors want to thank all the colleagues at the Omacha Foundation and at Corpoguajira; and the local community of Palomino, specially to Ms. Patricia Muñoz, for her hospitality, also the Afro Descendent Group Negro Mandela, Horticulture woman group of the Sierra, Union of Forest Savers of the Sierra, Group of turtle conservation, and the communities of the Neighborhood Sierrita; to all of you, thank you for your collaboration. Special thanks to Mr. Miguel Barrios from Riohacha, a kind adviser that transported us in this beautiful land of La Guajira. Many thanks to the Dr. Arno Gutleb for all his work in the IUCN/SSC Otter Specialist Group Bulletin.

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Notes sur le Comportement de la Loutre à Longue Queue (Lontra longicaudis) sur la Rivière Palomino (La Guajira, Colombie)
La loutre à longue queue est un mammifère semi-aquatique qui a une large répartition géographique. Elle a l’habitude d’épreindre dans des zones visibles en dehors des plans d’eau ; ces indices de présence indirects sont au centre de la plupart des études les concernant, mais le comportement des espèces reste mal connu. En Colombie, l’espèce est considérée comme vulnérable et dans le nord du pays (La Guajira), aucune étude n’a été menée. Dans ce schéma, des observations sur le comportement de L. longicaudis dans la nature ont été répertoriées, en tant que première approche, tandis que des études d’occurrence ont été réalisées dans la région. Des observations ont été effectuées en 2015 pendant la saison sèche ou en l’absence de pluie (février), dans les cours moyen et inférieur de la rivière Palomino. Cinq sites de repérage ont été définis le long de la rivière avec une méthode d’observation par échantillonnage ad libitum. En conséquence, 31 comportements différents ont été observés, parmi lesquels l’immersion, la respiration après immersion, la nage superficielle et la recherche de nourriture qui ont obtenu le taux le plus élevé de fréquence, avec respectivement 16%, 15,6%, 12,8% et 10,7%.
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Resumen: Notas sobre el Comportamiento de Nutria Neotropical (Lontra Longicaudis) en el Río Palomino (La Guajira, Colombia)
La nutria neotropical es un mamífero semiacuático que ocupa una amplia distribución geográfica. Tiene el habito de defecar en áreas conspicuas fuera de los cuerpos de agua, por lo que este rastro indirecto es el foco de la mayoría de estudios sobre la especie, pero poco es conocido sobre su comportamiento. En Colombia es considerada Vulnerable y, en la zona norte del país (La Guajira), no se han realizado estudios. En este marco, se realizaron observaciones de comportamiento de L. longicaudisen vida silvestre, como una primera aproximación, mientras se llevaban a cabo estudios de presencia en el área. Las observaciones fueron realizadas en 2015 durante la estación seca o de no lluvias (febrero) en la parte media y baja del río Palomino. Cinco estaciones de observación fueron establecidas y se implementó el método de muestreo ad libitum.Como resultado, un total de 31 comportamientos diferentes fueron registrados, en los cuales inmersión, respirar tras la inmersión, nado y forrajeo tuvieron las frecuencias más altas con 16%, 15.6%, 12.8% y 10.7%, respectivamente.
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