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Subfamily Lutrinae (Otters)
Eurasian otter Lutra lutra Linnaeus 1758

Distribution

The Eurasian otter has the widest distribution range of all otter species extending from Europe through northern Africa to Asia as far as Taiwan, Korea and Philippines (Mason & Macdonald 1986, Wozencraft 1993). In India it occurs in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, hills of Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh (ZSI 1992, Choudhury 1997a,b, 1999) Orissa, and in the southern India in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Goa (Pocock 1941, Prater 1971). It was not reported from Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharastra.

Description

The colour of the dorsal part of the fur in Eurasian otter varies from rusty to dusky-brown, where, as ventral side is lighter - sometimes up to grey or white. The lips and the throat show individual yellow, grey or white spots. The completely hairy tail is flattened at its terminal half and tapered at its end. The rhinarium is bare, mostly of black colour, sometimes with light spots. The shape of its upper rim shows a "W". All four feet have five toes with strong claws and webs between the toes, which extend at least to the last bone of each digit (Pocock 1941).

Pocock (1941) reports four subspecies from India, L. lutra nair Cuvier, 1823 occurs in southern India, locality type Pondicherry, L. l. monticola Hodgson, 1839 occurs in northern India from Himachal Pradesh (Kangra) eastwards to Assam, locality type - Nepal, L. l. kutub Schinz, 1844 occurs in Kashmir, Kangra and Tibet, locality type - Kashmir and L. l. aurobrunnea Hodgson, 1868 occurs in Nepal and Garhwal Himalayas, locality type Nepal.

Behaviour and ecology

The Eurasian otter is primarily nocturnal, largely solitary and lives in a wide variety of aquatic habitats, including highland and lowland lakes, rivers, streams, marshes and coastal areas. Like most Lutra species fish is the major prey of otters sometimes exceeding more than 80% of the diet (Erlinge 1968, Webb 1975, Beja 1991, Ruiz-Olmo & Palazon 1997). In addition to fish a whole range of other prey items have been recorded in the diet in variable proportions. These include aquatic insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds, small mammals, and crustaceans (Jenkins et al. 1979, Adrian & Delibes 1987, Skaren 1993). Age at sexual maturity is around 18 months in male and 24 months in the case of female, but in captivity it is usually 3 to 4 years (Reuther 1991). The gestation period is approximately 65 days, the litter size varies from 1 to 5, and the life expectancy is around 17 years (Acharjyo & Mishra 1983).

Conservation status

It is listed in Schedule II part II of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, Appendix I of CITES, and NE for the IUCN Red List. This species was not evaluated during the CAMP Workshop.

| Introduction | Mustelids | Viverrids | Herpestids | 
| Conservation Significance | References |