Otter
Encyclopedia
The Otters are twelve species
of semi-aquatic (or in one case aquatic
) mammals which feed on fish
and shellfish
, and also other invertebrate
s, amphibian
s, bird
s and small mammals.
The otter subfamily Lutrinae forms part of the family
Mustelidae
, which also includes weasel
s, polecats, badger
s, and wolverine
s.
word otor or oter. This and cognate words in other Indo-European languages
ultimately stem from the PIE
root *wódr̥ which also gave rise to the English word water.
An otter's den is called a holt or couch. A male otter is a dog, a female a bitch, and a baby a whelp, kit, or pup. The collective nouns for otters are bevy, family, lodge or romp, being descriptive of their often playful nature, or when in water raft.
is smallest otter species and the giant otter
and sea otter
are the largest. They have a very soft, insulated underfur which is protected by an outer layer of long guard hair. This traps a layer of air, and keeps them dry and warm under water.
Many otters live in cold waters and have very high metabolic rates to help keep them warm. Eurasian otters must eat 15% of their body weight a day, and sea otter
s 20 to 25%, depending on the temperature. In water as warm as 10°C (50°F), an otter needs to catch 100 grams (3.5 oz) of fish per hour to survive. Most species hunt for three to five hours a day, and nursing mothers up to eight hours a day.
For most otters, fish
is the staple of their diet. This is often supplemented by frog
s, crayfish
and crab
s. Some otters are expert at opening shellfish
, and others will feed on available small mammals or birds. Prey-dependence leaves otters very vulnerable to prey depletion.
Otters are very active, chasing prey in the water or searching the beds of rivers, lakes or the seas. Most species live beside water, but river otters usually enter it only to hunt or travel, otherwise spending much of their time on land to avoid their fur becoming waterlogged. Sea otters are highly aquatic and live in the ocean for most of their lives.
Otters are playful animals and appear to engage in various behaviors for sheer enjoyment. Different species vary in their social structure, with some being largely solitary, while others live in groups – in a few species these groups may be fairly large.
Genus Hydrictis
Genus Lutrogale
Genus Lontra
Genus Pteronura
Genus Aonyx
Genus Enhydra
Genus †Megalenhydris
Genus †Sardolutra
The northern river otter (Lontra canadensis) became one of the major animals hunted and trapped for fur
in North America after European contact. River otters eat a variety of fish and shellfish, as well as small land mammals and bird
s. They grow to one meter (3 to 4 ft) in length and weigh from five to fifteen kilograms (10 to 30 lb).
In some areas, this is a protected species, and some places have otter sanctuaries, which help sick and injured otters to recover.
Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) live along the Pacific coast of North America. Their historic range included shallow waters of the Bering Strait
and Kamchatka
, and as far south as Japan. Sea otters have about 26,000 to 165,000 strands of hair
per square centimetre of skin
, a rich fur for which humans hunted them almost to extinction. By the time the 1911 Fur Seal Treaty
gave them protection, so few sea otters remained that the fur trade had become unprofitable.
Sea otters eat shellfish and other invertebrate
s (especially clam
s, abalone
, and sea urchin
s), frequently using rocks as crude tool
s to smash open shells. They grow to 1.0 to 1.5 metres (2.5 to 5 ft) in length and weigh 30 kilograms (65 lb). Although once near extinction, they have begun to spread again, from remnant populations in California
and Alaska
.
Unlike most marine mammals (such as seals
or whale
s), sea otters do not have a layer of insulating blubber
. As with other species of otter, they rely on a layer of air trapped in their fur, which they keep topped up by blowing into the fur from their mouths. They spend most of their time in the water, whereas other otters spend much of their time on land.
This species (Lutra lutra) inhabits Europe, and its range also extends across most of Asia
and parts of North Africa
. In the British Isles
, they occurred commonly as recently as the 1950s, but became rare in many areas due to the use of chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticide
s and as a result of habitat
loss and water pollution
(they remained relatively common in parts of Scotland and Ireland). Population levels attained a low point in the 1980s, but are now recovering strongly. The UK Biodiversity Action Plan
envisages the re-establishment of otters by 2010 in all the UK rivers and coastal areas they inhabited in 1960. Roadkill
deaths have become one of the significant threats to the success of their re-establishment.
The giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) inhabits South America, especially the Amazon river basin, but is becoming increasingly rare due to poaching, habitat loss, and the use of mercury and other toxins in illegal alluvial gold mining. This gregarious animal grows to a length of up to 1.8 meters (6 ft), and is more aquatic than most other otters.
.
tells of the dwarf Ótr
habitually taking the form of an otter. The myth of Otter's Ransom is the starting point of the Volsunga saga
.
In some Native American cultures, otters are considered totem animals.
The otter is held to be a clean animal belonging to Ahura Mazda
in Zoroastrian
belief, and taboo to kill.
In popular Korean mythology, it is told that a person who sees an otter (soodal) will attract 'rain clouds' for the rest of their life.
, by Henry Williamson, published 1927, gives a vivid portrayal of an otter's life in the rivers of Devon at a time when otter hunting was still legal. It was made into a film
of the same name in 1978, co-scripted by Gerald Durrell
and narrated by Peter Ustinov
.
Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
is a children's storybook by Russell Hoban
that was adapted by Jim Henson
and Paul Williams
into a musical television special and by The Jim Henson Company
into a live musical stage show.
In Brian Jacques' Redwall
series, otters are depicted as kind, intelligent, creatures on land and sea. However, when it comes to defending their abbey home, they are fierce and strong warriors.
PB&J Otter
, a Disney animated cartoon, ran from 1998 to 2000. Its main characters were otters.
Gavin Maxwell
's book Ring of Bright Water
tells the tale of how he brought a Smooth-coated Otter
(Lutrogale perspicillata) back from Iraq
and raised it in 'Camusfearna' (Sandaig
), on the west coast of Scotland
.
The animated Nickelodeon
TV show The Penguins of Madagascar
features an otter character named Marlene, voiced by Nicole Sullivan
.
In the book and movie Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
, Hermione Granger
's Patronus takes the shape of an otter.
Rigby's counterpart Doug Shlibowski from Regular Show
episode "Temp Check" is an evil otter that tries to replace him as Mordecai's friend.
In "Alan Dean Foster
"'s "Spellsinger
" Series of Books, "Mudge the Otter
" is the constant companion of the Hero of the Series Jon-Tom. Mudge is foul mouthed, lazy, greed and lecherous, he constantly derides the hero's abilities at Spellsinging, but no matter what he is loyal, courageous and funny.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of semi-aquatic (or in one case aquatic
Aquatic animal
An aquatic animal is an animal, either vertebrate or invertebrate, which lives in water for most or all of its life. It may breathe air or extract its oxygen from that dissolved in water through specialised organs called gills, or directly through its skin. Natural environments and the animals that...
) mammals which feed on fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
and shellfish
Shellfish
Shellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...
, and also other invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s, amphibian
Amphibian
Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...
s, bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s and small mammals.
The otter subfamily Lutrinae forms part of the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Mustelidae
Mustelidae
Mustelidae , commonly referred to as the weasel family, are a family of carnivorous mammals. Mustelids are diverse and the largest family in the order Carnivora, at least partly because in the past it has been a catch-all category for many early or poorly differentiated taxa...
, which also includes weasel
Weasel
Weasels are mammals forming the genus Mustela of the Mustelidae family. They are small, active predators, long and slender with short legs....
s, polecats, badger
Badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are nine species of badger, in three subfamilies : Melinae , Mellivorinae , and Taxideinae...
s, and wolverine
Wolverine
The wolverine, pronounced , Gulo gulo , also referred to as glutton, carcajou, skunk bear, or quickhatch, is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae . It is a stocky and muscular carnivore, more closely resembling a small bear than other mustelids...
s.
Nomenclature
The word otter derives from the Old EnglishOld English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
word otor or oter. This and cognate words in other Indo-European languages
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
ultimately stem from the PIE
Pie
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients....
root *wódr̥ which also gave rise to the English word water.
An otter's den is called a holt or couch. A male otter is a dog, a female a bitch, and a baby a whelp, kit, or pup. The collective nouns for otters are bevy, family, lodge or romp, being descriptive of their often playful nature, or when in water raft.
Life cycle
The time of gestation in otters is about 60 to 86 days. The newborn pup is taken care of by the mother, the father, and all the other offspring. Female otters reach sexual maturity at approximately two years of age, while males can produce offspring at approximately three years of age. After one month, the young otter can come out of the cave, and after two months, it is able to swim. It lives with its family for about one year so that it can learn and be kept safe until maturity. Otters live up to 16 years.Characteristics
Otters have long, slim bodies and relatively short limbs, with webbed paws. Most have sharp claws on their feet, and all except the sea otter have long muscular tails. The twelve species range in adult size from 0.6 to 1.8 metres (2 to 6 feet) in length and 1 to 45 kilograms (2.2 to 100 pounds) in weight. The Oriental small-clawed otterOriental Small-clawed Otter
The oriental small-clawed otter , also known as Asian small-clawed otter, is the smallest otter species in the world, weighing less than 5 kg. It lives in mangrove swamps and freshwater wetlands of Bangladesh, Burma, India, southern China, Taiwan, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines,...
is smallest otter species and the giant otter
Giant Otter
The giant otter is a South American carnivorous mammal. It is the longest member of the Mustelidae, or weasel family, a globally successful group of predators. Unusually for a mustelid, the giant otter is a social species, with family groups typically supporting three to eight members...
and sea otter
Sea Otter
The sea otter is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals...
are the largest. They have a very soft, insulated underfur which is protected by an outer layer of long guard hair. This traps a layer of air, and keeps them dry and warm under water.
Many otters live in cold waters and have very high metabolic rates to help keep them warm. Eurasian otters must eat 15% of their body weight a day, and sea otter
Sea Otter
The sea otter is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals...
s 20 to 25%, depending on the temperature. In water as warm as 10°C (50°F), an otter needs to catch 100 grams (3.5 oz) of fish per hour to survive. Most species hunt for three to five hours a day, and nursing mothers up to eight hours a day.
For most otters, fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
is the staple of their diet. This is often supplemented by frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
s, crayfish
Crayfish
Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads – members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea – are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related...
and crab
Crab
True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...
s. Some otters are expert at opening shellfish
Shellfish
Shellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...
, and others will feed on available small mammals or birds. Prey-dependence leaves otters very vulnerable to prey depletion.
Otters are very active, chasing prey in the water or searching the beds of rivers, lakes or the seas. Most species live beside water, but river otters usually enter it only to hunt or travel, otherwise spending much of their time on land to avoid their fur becoming waterlogged. Sea otters are highly aquatic and live in the ocean for most of their lives.
Otters are playful animals and appear to engage in various behaviors for sheer enjoyment. Different species vary in their social structure, with some being largely solitary, while others live in groups – in a few species these groups may be fairly large.
Species
Genus LutraLutra
Lutra is a genus of otters.*Lutra nippon - Japanese otter*Lutra sumatrana - Hairy-nosed otter*Lutra lutra - European otter-Habitat:Lutra are semi-aquatic mammals and therefore need to be well-adapted to both water and land...
- Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra)
- Hairy-nosed otterHairy-nosed OtterThe Hairy-nosed Otter is one of the rarest otter species on earth. Until 1998, it was thought to have been extinct. However, since then small populations have been discovered.-Measurements:Weight: Head-body length: Tail length:...
(Lutra sumatrana)
Genus Hydrictis
- Spotted-necked otter (Hydrictis maculicollis)
Genus Lutrogale
Lutrogale
Lutrogale is a genus of otter, with only one extant species - the smooth-coated otter.*† Lutrogale cretensis - Cretan Otter*† Lutrogale palaeoleptonyx*Lutrogale perspicillata - Smooth-coated Otter...
- Smooth-coated otterSmooth-coated OtterThe Smooth-coated Otter is a species of otter, the only extant representative of the genus Lutrogale. The species is found from southern Pakistan and parts of the India east to Southeast Asia, and there is a disjunct population in Iraq...
(Lutrogale perspicillata)
Genus Lontra
Lontra
Lontra is a genus of otters from the American continent.The genus comprises four species:*North American River Otter *Southern River Otter *Neotropical Otter...
- Northern river otterNorthern River OtterThe North American river otter , also known as the northern river otter or the common otter, is a semiaquatic mammal endemic to the North American continent, found in and along its waterways and coasts. An adult river otter can weigh between 5 and 14 kg...
(Lontra canadensis) - Southern river otterSouthern River OtterThe Southern river otter is a species of otter that lives in Chile and Argentina. Although called a "river otter", it inhabits both marine and freshwater environments....
(Lontra provocax) - Neotropical river otterNeotropical River OtterThe Neotropical Otter , Lontra longicaudis, is an otter species found in Central America, South America and the island of Trinidad....
(Lontra longicaudis) - Marine otterMarine OtterThe marine otter, Lontra felina, is a rare and poorly-known South American mammal of the weasel family . The scientific name means "otter cat", and in Spanish the marine otter is also often referred to as : "marine cat"...
(Lontra felina)
Genus Pteronura
- Giant otterGiant OtterThe giant otter is a South American carnivorous mammal. It is the longest member of the Mustelidae, or weasel family, a globally successful group of predators. Unusually for a mustelid, the giant otter is a social species, with family groups typically supporting three to eight members...
(Pteronura brasiliensis)
Genus Aonyx
Aonyx
Aonyx is a genus of otters, containing two species, the African Clawless Otter and the Oriental Small-clawed Otter. The word 'Aonyx' means 'clawless', derived from the prefix 'a-' and .-Species and subspecies:...
- African clawless otterAfrican Clawless OtterThe African clawless otter , also known as the cape clawless otter or groot otter, is the second largest freshwater species of otter. African clawless otters are found near permanent bodies of water in savannah and lowland forest areas...
(Aonyx capensis) - Oriental small-clawed otterOriental Small-clawed OtterThe oriental small-clawed otter , also known as Asian small-clawed otter, is the smallest otter species in the world, weighing less than 5 kg. It lives in mangrove swamps and freshwater wetlands of Bangladesh, Burma, India, southern China, Taiwan, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines,...
(Aonyx cinerea)
Genus Enhydra
Enhydra
Enhydra is the genus of the sea otter .Enhydra may also refer to:-Computing:* The Enhydra.org community, developers of open source software....
- Sea otterSea OtterThe sea otter is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals...
(Enhydra lutris)
Genus †Megalenhydris
Megalenhydris
Megalenhydris barbaricina is a Late Pleistocene giant otter from Sardinia. It is known from a single skeleton, discovered in the Grotta di Ispinigoli near Dorgali, and was described in 1987. It is one of three extinct otter species from Sardinia. The others are Algarolutra majori and Sardolutra...
Genus †Sardolutra
Sardolutra
Sardolutra ichnusae is an extinct genus of otter from the late Pleistocene of Sardinia. It was originally described as Nesolutra ichnusae....
Northern river otter
Fur
Fur is a synonym for hair, used more in reference to non-human animals, usually mammals; particularly those with extensives body hair coverage. The term is sometimes used to refer to the body hair of an animal as a complete coat, also known as the "pelage". Fur is also used to refer to animal...
in North America after European contact. River otters eat a variety of fish and shellfish, as well as small land mammals and bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s. They grow to one meter (3 to 4 ft) in length and weigh from five to fifteen kilograms (10 to 30 lb).
In some areas, this is a protected species, and some places have otter sanctuaries, which help sick and injured otters to recover.
Sea otter
Bering Strait
The Bering Strait , known to natives as Imakpik, is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, USA, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65°40'N,...
and Kamchatka
Kamchatka Peninsula
The Kamchatka Peninsula is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of . It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west...
, and as far south as Japan. Sea otters have about 26,000 to 165,000 strands of hair
Hair
Hair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class....
per square centimetre of skin
Skin
-Dermis:The dermis is the layer of skin beneath the epidermis that consists of connective tissue and cushions the body from stress and strain. The dermis is tightly connected to the epidermis by a basement membrane. It also harbors many Mechanoreceptors that provide the sense of touch and heat...
, a rich fur for which humans hunted them almost to extinction. By the time the 1911 Fur Seal Treaty
North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911
The North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911, formally known as the Convention between the United States and Other Powers Providing for the Preservation and Protection of Fur Seals, was an international treaty signed on July 7, 1911 designed to manage the commercial harvest of fur bearing mammals ...
gave them protection, so few sea otters remained that the fur trade had become unprofitable.
Sea otters eat shellfish and other invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s (especially clam
Clam
The word "clam" can be applied to freshwater mussels, and other freshwater bivalves, as well as marine bivalves.In the United States, "clam" can be used in several different ways: one, as a general term covering all bivalve molluscs...
s, abalone
Abalone
Abalone , from aulón, are small to very large-sized edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis...
, and sea urchin
Sea urchin
Sea urchins or urchins are small, spiny, globular animals which, with their close kin, such as sand dollars, constitute the class Echinoidea of the echinoderm phylum. They inhabit all oceans. Their shell, or "test", is round and spiny, typically from across. Common colors include black and dull...
s), frequently using rocks as crude tool
Tool
A tool is a device that can be used to produce an item or achieve a task, but that is not consumed in the process. Informally the word is also used to describe a procedure or process with a specific purpose. Tools that are used in particular fields or activities may have different designations such...
s to smash open shells. They grow to 1.0 to 1.5 metres (2.5 to 5 ft) in length and weigh 30 kilograms (65 lb). Although once near extinction, they have begun to spread again, from remnant populations in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
.
Unlike most marine mammals (such as seals
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
or whale
Whale
Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...
s), sea otters do not have a layer of insulating blubber
Blubber
Blubber is a thick layer of vascularized adipose tissue found under the skin of all cetaceans, pinnipeds and sirenians.-Description:Lipid-rich, collagen fiber–laced blubber comprises the hypodermis and covers the whole body, except for parts of the appendages, strongly attached to the musculature...
. As with other species of otter, they rely on a layer of air trapped in their fur, which they keep topped up by blowing into the fur from their mouths. They spend most of their time in the water, whereas other otters spend much of their time on land.
Eurasian otter
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and parts of North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
. In the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
, they occurred commonly as recently as the 1950s, but became rare in many areas due to the use of chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticide
Pesticide
Pesticides are substances or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest.A pesticide may be a chemical unicycle, biological agent , antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest...
s and as a result of habitat
Habitat (ecology)
A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...
loss and water pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
(they remained relatively common in parts of Scotland and Ireland). Population levels attained a low point in the 1980s, but are now recovering strongly. The UK Biodiversity Action Plan
Biodiversity Action Plan
A Biodiversity Action Plan is an internationally recognized program addressing threatened species and habitats and is designed to protect and restore biological systems. The original impetus for these plans derives from the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity...
envisages the re-establishment of otters by 2010 in all the UK rivers and coastal areas they inhabited in 1960. Roadkill
Roadkill
Roadkill is an animal or animals that have been struck and killed by motor vehicles. In the United States of America, removal and disposal of animals struck by motor vehicles is usually the responsibility of the state's state trooper association or department of transportation.-History:During the...
deaths have become one of the significant threats to the success of their re-establishment.
Giant otter
Fishing
For countless generations, fishermen in southern Bangladesh have bred otters and used them to chase fish into their nets. Once a widespread practice passed down from father to son throughout many communities in Asia, this traditional use of domesticated wild animals is still in practice in the district of Narail, BangladeshBangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
.
Religion and mythology
Norse mythologyNorse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
tells of the dwarf Ótr
Ótr
In Norse mythology, Ótr is a dwarf. He is the son of the king Hreidmar and the brother of Fafnir and Regin....
habitually taking the form of an otter. The myth of Otter's Ransom is the starting point of the Volsunga saga
Volsunga saga
The Völsungasaga is a legendary saga, a late 13th century Icelandic prose rendition of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan . It is largely based on epic poetry...
.
In some Native American cultures, otters are considered totem animals.
The otter is held to be a clean animal belonging to Ahura Mazda
Ahura Mazda
Ahura Mazdā is the Avestan name for a divinity of the Old Iranian religion who was proclaimed the uncreated God by Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism...
in Zoroastrian
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...
belief, and taboo to kill.
In popular Korean mythology, it is told that a person who sees an otter (soodal) will attract 'rain clouds' for the rest of their life.
Media
Tarka the OtterTarka the Otter
Tarka the Otter: His Joyful Water-Life and Death in the Country of the Two Rivers is a novel by Henry Williamson. The book narrates the experience of an otter. It was first published in 1927 by G.P. Putnam's Sons, with an introduction by the Hon. Sir John Fortescue, K.C.V.O..-Plot summary:The plot...
, by Henry Williamson, published 1927, gives a vivid portrayal of an otter's life in the rivers of Devon at a time when otter hunting was still legal. It was made into a film
Tarka the Otter (1979 film)
Tarka the Otter is a film made in 1979, based on the novel of the same name by Henry Williamson. In the summer of 1976, Peter Talbot was asked by film producers David Cobham and Bill Travers to hand raise a baby otter called Spade, specifically for the film...
of the same name in 1978, co-scripted by Gerald Durrell
Gerald Durrell
Gerald "Gerry" Malcolm Durrell, OBE was a naturalist, zookeeper, conservationist, author and television presenter...
and narrated by Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov
Peter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
.
Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas is a children's storybook by Russell Hoban which was first published in 1971. In 1977 it was adapted into a television special by Jim Henson with songs by Paul Williams...
is a children's storybook by Russell Hoban
Russell Hoban
Russell Conwell Hoban is an American writer, now living in England, of fantasy, science fiction, mainstream fiction, magic realism, poetry, and children's books-Biography:...
that was adapted by Jim Henson
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
and Paul Williams
Paul Williams (songwriter)
Paul Hamilton Williams, Jr. is an Academy Award-winning American composer, musician, songwriter, and actor. He is perhaps best known for popular songs performed by a number of acts in the 1970s including Three Dog Night's "An Old Fashioned Love Song", Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World",...
into a musical television special and by The Jim Henson Company
The Jim Henson Company
The Jim Henson Company, an American entertainment organization, traces its origins to the founding of Muppets, Inc. in 1958 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The Muppets helped the company gain worldwide acclaim in family entertainment for more than four decades...
into a live musical stage show.
In Brian Jacques' Redwall
Redwall
Redwall, by Brian Jacques, is a series of fantasy novels. It is the title of the first book of the series, published in 1986, the name of the Abbey featured in the book, and the name of an animated TV series based on three of the novels , which first aired in 1999...
series, otters are depicted as kind, intelligent, creatures on land and sea. However, when it comes to defending their abbey home, they are fierce and strong warriors.
PB&J Otter
PB&J Otter
PB&J Otter is an animated children's series which premiered on Playhouse Disney on March 15, 1998. A total of 65 episodes were produced during the course of its three season run, with the "farewell" episode airing on September 24, 2000. The series centered on the Otter family who lived in the rural...
, a Disney animated cartoon, ran from 1998 to 2000. Its main characters were otters.
Gavin Maxwell
Gavin Maxwell
Gavin Maxwell FRSL, FIAL, FZS , FRGS was a Scottish naturalist and author, best known for his work with otters. He wrote the book Ring of Bright Water about how he brought an otter back from Iraq and raised it in Scotland...
's book Ring of Bright Water
Ring of Bright Water
Ring of Bright Water is a British feature film starring Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna in a story about a Londoner and an otter living on the Scottish coast. The film was based upon a 1960 autobiographical book of the same name by Gavin Maxwell, featuring the stars of Born Free, another movie...
tells the tale of how he brought a Smooth-coated Otter
Smooth-coated Otter
The Smooth-coated Otter is a species of otter, the only extant representative of the genus Lutrogale. The species is found from southern Pakistan and parts of the India east to Southeast Asia, and there is a disjunct population in Iraq...
(Lutrogale perspicillata) back from Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and raised it in 'Camusfearna' (Sandaig
Glenelg, Scotland
-Geography:Glenelg is located by the Kyle Rhea narrows, where Skye is closest to the mainland. Road access is by the 339m Bealach Ratagain from Shiel Bridge, on the main Inverness to Skye road....
), on the west coast of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
The animated Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
TV show The Penguins of Madagascar
The Penguins of Madagascar
The Penguins of Madagascar is an American CGI animated television series airing on Nickelodeon. It stars nine characters from the DreamWorks Animation animated film Madagascar: The penguins Skipper , Kowalski , Private , and Rico ; the lemurs King Julien , Maurice , and Mort...
features an otter character named Marlene, voiced by Nicole Sullivan
Nicole Sullivan
Nicole Julianne Sullivan is an American actress, comedian and voice artist. Sullivan is best known for her six seasons on the sketch comedy series MADtv and five seasons on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens.She has played a recurring character on Scrubs and voices the villainous Shego in...
.
In the book and movie Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth in the Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling, and was published on 21 June 2003 by Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom, Scholastic in the United States, and Raincoast in Canada...
, Hermione Granger
Hermione Granger
Hermione Jean Granger is a fictional character and one of the three protagonists in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. She initially appears in the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, as a new student on her way to Hogwarts...
's Patronus takes the shape of an otter.
Rigby's counterpart Doug Shlibowski from Regular Show
Regular Show
Regular Show is an American animated television series created by J. G. Quintel...
episode "Temp Check" is an evil otter that tries to replace him as Mordecai's friend.
In "Alan Dean Foster
Alan Dean Foster
Alan Dean Foster is an American author of fantasy and science fiction. He currently resides in Prescott, Arizona, with his wife, and is also known for his novelizations of film scripts...
"'s "Spellsinger
Spellsinger
Spellsinger is a series of fantasy novels written by Alan Dean Foster. At present the series consists of eight books, and although there was a significant gap between the writing of book six and book seven, it seems unlikely that any more will be written....
" Series of Books, "Mudge the Otter
Mudge the Otter
Mudge is character from Alan Dean Foster's Spellsinger series. He an anthropomorphic otter with a thick Cockney accent, a womanizer, a thief and a gambler who is the best friend and traveling companion of Jonathan Thomas Meriweather. These and other unsavory traits seem to be common to the otter...
" is the constant companion of the Hero of the Series Jon-Tom. Mudge is foul mouthed, lazy, greed and lecherous, he constantly derides the hero's abilities at Spellsinging, but no matter what he is loyal, courageous and funny.
Gallery
External links
- IUCN SSC Otter Specialist Group
- ARKive Photographs and Videos of Eurasian Otter. On the same site are photos and videos of Marine otter (Lontra felina), Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), Marine otter (Lontra felina) , Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), Smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata) and the Giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis).
- International Otter Survival Fund
- Otternet
- Otter stories and pictures
- Blog: Saving Otters