Where can giant otters best survive?

Researchers have identified priority conservation areas for endangered giant otters in South America after a comprehensive, first-of-its-kind report. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis) as endangered, mostly due to overexploitation for the fur trade from the 1940s to 1970s. By the 1980s, the species was extirpated from many areas. To better understand the status of the animals right now, experts from 12 South American countries worked together to publish a report about their ecology and known range. They identified the 22 important conservation units that amounted to nearly one-third of the species’ range. About 35% of these identified areas are designated as protected areas, they found. “No one who has ever been fortunate enough to encounter a group of giant otters in the wild will ever forget the experience,” said lead author Rob Wallace, senior conservation scientist for the Wildlife Conservation Society in Bolivia and the Andes-Amazon-Orinoco region and a member of the IUCN Otter Specialist Group, in a press release. “Periscoping from the water, snorting and squeaking, they simply ooze charisma, and as accomplished and acrobatic swimmers, they are one of the Amazon’s top aquatic predators.”

Read more and find the report at the WCS Newsroom.