The Otter is among the animals at risk of extinction , in Italy as in other parts of the world. Let’s hurry up and read more about it, and do something, with the many projects underway.
Accustomed to imagining her happy and smiling, on TV or in a stuffed toy version, we have perhaps not realized that this animal is in danger. And we humans have also had a hand in making her life difficult.
In this article we will present some varieties and the main characteristics of the otter.
Characteristics of the Otter
The large family, which includes all the varieties of Otter is that of the Lutrini, they are carnivores in turn belonging to the Mustelidae. There are 13 species of otters divided into 6 genera, in general they are found in almost all the continents, in a theoretical sense, because in practice, the otter is at risk of extinction, so we could see it disappear from the globe.
One of its most notable characteristics is its thick fur , very dense, which protects it from water and is able to trap air bubbles, insulating it from the cold. However, this is not enough, because when temperatures, especially in certain areas, drop significantly, otters are saved thanks to their very high metabolic rate. This means that this animal burns a lot of calories to warm up quickly.
The body of the otter is sinuous and long-limbed but the legs are certainly not slender, they are often equipped with sharp claws, very useful for grabbing prey such as fish, but not only. Of course, fish is the basis of the otter’s menu but frogs, lobsters and crabs also appear, more rarely and only for some species, some mammals and a few birds. The hours that every good otter with appetite dedicates to hunting are on average 3 or 4.
Otter: the risk of extinction
The fact that the otter is at risk is a terrible sign both for the animal itself and because it means that the health of the waterways and lakes in which it lives is terrible. Even the selfish, therefore, should be concerned since we are all inhabitants of the same earth.
The greatest threats to this animal, and not only for this, are the continuous worsening of the state of river environments, increasingly polluted due to an invasive human presence. A clear example concerns the cultivation of tea and coffee that destroy the mangrove forests, forests that represent the hunting reserve of otters, there in fact they go in search of fish, frogs, crabs, shrimp and seafood .
Another aspect of pollution is that which derives from the use of pesticides which obviously poison rivers and aquifers. If I spoke of mangrove forests and coffee plantations, let’s not think that in Italy there are no reasons to worry, on the contrary. Data in hand, released by the University of Trieste, if the European otters are very threatened, the Italian ones are condemned to disappear soon if nothing changes . There are about 200 of them, no more, and they can become less every day if we don’t stop devastating their habitat.
Otter variety
In the next paragraphs we will provide you with a summary of the main varieties of otter .
Sea Otter
Greedy for crustaceans that they often hunt by “arming” themselves with rocks, sea otters measure from one to two meters in length for a total of about 30 kg, they must eat 20% of their body weight every day to stay healthy.
Also called Enhydra lutris, this otter inhabits the Pacific coast of North America, particularly in the stretch near the Bering Strait, but we also find it in Japan. This species sports a very beautiful fur, unfortunately, because it is one of the reasons why it is often hunted.
Giant Otter
Let’s check that it is giant: this otter is 150-180 centimeters long, excluding the tail which in turn measures from 50 to 70 centimeters, its weight is about 32 Kg . It is decidedly large and prefers to live in small groups frequenting terrestrial environments.
Since 1973, this species has earned the status of protected animal and it is forbidden to kill it in the areas where it is still found: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela. There are still some specimens in Argentina, kept in the Iguazu National Park.
Domestic Otter
The domestic otter simply does not exist.
Raising an otter at home would not only be an act of violence towards an animal that needs to live outdoors near aquatic environments such as rivers or lakes, but it is also prohibited by law.
In Italy, otters can only be raised within facilities dedicated to making these tender animals known for exclusively educational or scientific purposes.
The fact that it is an intelligent and tameable animal should therefore not induce us to breed it.