IUCN/SCC Otter Specialist Group Bulletin
© IUCN/SCC Otter Specialist Group

Volume 6 Pages 1 - 35 (February 1991)

IUCN/SCC OSG Group

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Greetings to all of our members of the IUCN Otter Specialist Group. This edition of the Otter Specialist Group Newsletter is the first one produced by our new Editor, Dave Rowe-Rowe. Thanks and sincere gratitude are due Chris Mason, our former Newsletter Editor for all his hard work and dedication over the years. Without Chris's tenacity, this publication would have floundered long ago. I would also like to formally thank Dave Rowe-Rowe and his sponsoring organisations, the Natal Parks Board and Southern African Nature Foundation, for embarking on this. new endeavour. With Dave's abundant enthusiasm and dedication to otter conservation, I'm sure this will continue to be a publication that we will all be proud lo use and contribute to.

At long last the IUCN document Otters: An Action Plan for their Conservation has been published and distributed. Thanks to all of you for your contributions to this large-scale project. All members of the Otter Specialist Group, all contributors mentioned in the acknowledgement section, and other concerned parties suggested by the Regional Coordinators have all been mailed copies from the IUCN office in Switzerland or from George Rabb's office in Chicago. The American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums (AAZPA), one of the funders of this publication, has also provided copies to all zoos in the United Stales. The Chairman of our group and all Regional Coordinators and chapter authors have also received additional copies for distribution. Now that this document is in so many hands, and is readily accessible to others who wish a copy, it is time to begin to take action. I sincerely hope that this publication helps you in your own fund-raising efforts. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help you raise funds for your otter conservation projects.

In addition to the change in our Newsletter Editor, there are other administrative changes in our group. After many long years of service and hard work for the Otter Specialist Group, Sheila Macdonald resigned as European Co-Coordinator and Claus Reuther is now the sole European Co-Coordinator. Also, Charles Santiapillai of Indonesia has resigned in his duties from most of his IUCN Specialist Group activities, including ours. If any of you Asian members have enough institutional support to cover your mailing and communication costs and would like to serve as our Asian Coordinator, please contact me. Until then, I will continue to oversee this area.

For the next six months I will be finishing up my PhD dissertation on "Foraging Ecology of  Malaysian Otters" at the Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611 (Fax: 904-392-3704; Phone: 904-392-1107). Please feel free to contact me there and I will continue to server your otter conservation needs in any way I can.  I look forward to hearing from you and to seeing the flourishing of your otter conservation projects.

Pat Foster-Turley

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