Eurasian Otter
(Lutra lutra)
As promised, the posts this week are brief overviews of EACH of the
otter species, focusing on recent information about each species and a
vid or 2...
There is a LOT of information "out there" about the Eurasian Otter,
they are the considered the "typical" otter
(just take a look at that genus and species name! ; ) ;
consider this just a brief intro, a sneak peek, at the only otter species
that can be found on THREE continents!
Eurasian Otters are found across most of Europe and Asia AND in parts of northern Africa. They are always found near water, fresh or salt, as long as there are freshwater pools nearby for drinking and bathing. They tend to live alone except when mating, when the male and female may stay close together for ~ a week, or for females when raising a litter. Though they are excellent swimmers, Eurasian Otters can only hold their breath for about 30 seconds!
Status: Near Threatened and Decreasing
The teal area in the map below shows where the Eurasian Otter is known to exist; it may be found in other small sub-populations not shown.
For our Eurasian Otter videos, we have a treat, one of Questˣ's friends, Andy Coventry, takes some of the most wonderful videos (and photos) of Eurasian otters!
Here is a link to a video he shared with us recently of 2 Eurasian otters swimming in the River Don, Scotland.
Video about the Eurasian Otter Conservation Program, on otter conservation in Israel
...and a white-tailed eagle after an otter's meal off the Island of Mull, watch closely!
If you want more in-depth reading a few research articles you could explore on these otters includes:
> An evaluation of field and noninvasive genetic methods for estimating Eurasian otter population size, P Hájková, B Zemanová, K Roche, B Hájek - Conservation Genetics, 2009
> Competition between Eurasian otter Lutra lutra and American mink Mustela vison probed by niche shift., L Bonesi, P Chanin, DW Macdonald - Oikos, 2004
> Chemical contaminants in fish species from rivers in the North of Luxembourg: Potential impact on the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra), A Boscher, S Gobert, C Guignard, J Ziebel, L L'Hoste… - Chemosphere, 2010
> The reintroduction of the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) into the Netherlands: hidden life revealed by noninvasive genetic monitoring,HP Koelewijn, M Pérez-Haro, HAH Jansman… - Conservation …, 2010
L Remonti, A Balestrieri… - Canadian Journal of …, 2009
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