IUCN/SSC Otter Specialist Group Bulletin
©IUCN/SCC Otter Specialist Group
Note from the Editor
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Dear Friends, Colleagues and Otter Enthusiasts!
I am writing from Santiago, where I had the pleasure of teaching last week in the One Health doctoral program. It’s always a joy engaging with such enthusiastic and thoughtful students - and yes, they endured a 45-minute lecture on otters (a tradition I take great pride in).
A quick editorial update: as we continue to emphasize scientific rigour, I want to highlight stricter guidelines for photographic observations submitted for publication. These manuscripts should:
- Be no longer than 2 pages of text, plus supporting images
- Include a map showing the location in relation to the country
- Be accompanied by a written confirmation from the species coordinator affirming the novelty of the observation - no manuscript will be evaluated without this
Alternatively, I strongly encourage researchers to submit these observations to our long-running iNaturalist project: IUCN SSC OSG Otters of the World at https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/iucn-osg-otters-of-the-world. Since 2014, this initiative has helped fill distribution gaps, provide early alerts for critical habitats, and raise awareness about the conservation needs of otters globally.
One more bit of great news: Lesley has cleared nearly the entire publication backlog. From now on, accepted manuscripts will appear online very shortly after proofprint approval. Huge thanks to Lesley for this incredible effort - your dedication is deeply appreciated!
