Otter World
By Sarah Flaherty
Otters, like weasels, skunks, and badgers, are members of the mustelid family. They range in size from one and a half feet to six and a half feet in length. The various otter species also differ in their social structures. Some, such as the sea otter, live almost entirely solitary lives, while others, such as the giant otter of the Amazon (Pteronura brasiliensis), live in family groups. All otters exist on diets of various aquatic delicacies, such as crabs, octopi, fish, mollusks, bivalves, urchins, and snails.
| Asian
Small-Clawed Otters |
The 13 different species of otter are found in the freshwater streams, rivers, lakes, and coastal areas of five continents. (There are no otters in Antarctica or Australia.) More than half of these species are considered threatened or vulnerable by the IUCN/World Conservation Union. Otters generally sit at the top of their food chains, but as cubs they can fall victim to jaguars, wolverines, killer whales, and other predators. However, the main threats to the survival of most otter species are disease and a host of man-made troubles: the fur trade, poaching, pollution, pesticides, road mortality, dams, habitat destruction, and fishing nets. As a result, in spite of being protected in most countries, the populations of many of the worlds otter species are in decline. While the North American river otter (Lutra canadensis) is believed to be the most numerous of the otters, its cousin, the elusive Congo clawless otter (Aonyx congica), is so rare that it may in fact be extinct already.
The National Zoo exhibits two species of otters: the North American river otter and the Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinerea).
ZooGoer 28(6) 1999. Copyright 1999 Friends of the National Zoo. All rights reserved.
The California Sea
Otter: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
The Alaska Sea Otter's Disturbing
Decline
Sea Worthy Otter
At the Zoo: Ode
To An Otter
Monterey
Bay Aquarium, the worlds only sea otter rehabilitation
and breeding program.
Friends of the Sea Otter
