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Smooth-coated otter Lutra perspicillata Geoffroy, 1826

Distribution

The smooth-coated otter is distributed throughout southern Asia from Indonesia, through southeast Asia, and westwards through southern China, India and Pakistan, with an isolated population in Iraq (Pocock 1941, Prater 1971, Medway 1978, Mason & Macdonald 1986, Hussain 1993, Hussain & Choudhury 1997). Though its current status in the middle east including Iraq is not known, its presence has been confirmed from Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, southwest China, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Sumatra, Java and Borneo (Mason & Macdonald 1986, Corbet & Hill 1992). In India it occurs in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, plains of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, in the central Indian plateau of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, in east and northeast in West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh (Sanyal 1991, ZSI 1992, Choudhury 1997 a,b, 1999) through Myanmar. In the south in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Goa (Pocock 1941).

Description

The size and proportion of the smooth-coated otter is almost similar to the Eurasian otter. The tail length is more than half the length of the head and body and more than three times the length of hind foot. The total length ranges between 1067 and 1300 mm, head to body 655 and 790 mm and the tail length ranges between 406 and 505 mm (Duplaix & Davis 1981). Measurements of two specimens given by Pocock (1941) are as follows; head and body 655-687 mm, tail 422-435 mm, hind foot 137-142 mm (Medway 1978). Lekagul & McNeely (1988) mentioned head to body length 650-750 mm, tail length 400-450 mm, hind foot 100-140 mm and weight 7-11 kg ranging from 6.5 kg in the case of subadult to 7.00-11.4 kg in adults. In colour, the dorsal part of the body varies from deep, nearly blackish-brown, or lighter brown with a rufous tinge with much paler, tawny or sandy brown. Whereas the underside is always lighter than the dorsal part the paws are paler than the back. The upper lip to the edge of the rhinarium, the cheek to the eye and ear, the sides of the neck, the chin and throat are white or whitish (Pocock, 1941). In its external characters the smooth-coated otter differs from Eurasian otter by its very smooth, sleek coat, i.e. hair texture is velvety. The length of the guard hair ranges between 12 - 14 mm and under fur 6 - 8 mm (Duplaix & Davis, 1981). Muzzle is not spotted and the rhinarium is bare, dusky with peaked upper margin (inverted V shaped). The terminal half of the tail is more flattened than the Eurasian otter with a tapered end. Both the fore and the hind paws are large, well webbed, but the third phalanges are free of webbing.

Pocock (1941) reports two subspecies from India. L. p. perspicillata Geoffroy, 1826 occurs in northeast and in southern India, locality type Nepal Tarai and Madras. L. p. sindica Pocock, 1940 occurs in north and northwestern India, locality type Chak in the Sukkur district of Sindh (now in Pakistan).

Behaviour and ecology

The smooth-coated otter occurs along the large rivers and lakes, in mangrove forests along the coast and estuaries, and in southeast Asia it even uses the rice fields for foraging (Foster-Turly 1992, Sivasothi & Nor 1994, Melisch et al. 1996). Along the large rivers in India, it shows greater preference for rocky stretches in all the seasons, since these stretches provide sites for den and resting (Hussain 1993, Hussain & Choudhury 1995). In the Tarai areas of the upper Gangetic plains the seasonally flooded swamps dominated by Phragmites karka, Arundo donax, Sclerostachya fusca, Carex obscuriceps and Cyanodon dactylon communities interspersed with Syzygium spp. were extensively used by smooth-coated otters during monsoon and in early winter (Hussain 1998).

It is predominantly a fish eater, but supplements its diet with shrimp/crayfish, crab and insects, and other vertebrates such as frogs, mudskippers, birds and rats (Prater 1971, Foster-Turly 1992, Hussain 1993, Hussain & Choudhury 1998). The range of fish in the diet varies from 75 to 100% (Foster-Turly 1992, Hussain 1993, Melisch et al. 1996, Hussain & Choudhury 1998). A typical group of smooth-coated otter consists of male, female, and up to three to five young ones. (Wayre 1974, Hussain 1996). During a radio-tracking study in the National Chambal Sanctuary, India, the home ranges of all the otters tracked, overlapped intensively. Among the radio-implanted otters, the maximum home range was observed in a subadult male and the minimum in a juvenile female and male. Among the non-tagged otters, the home range of female with cubs was estimated as 5.5 km. In case of the adult male it was estimated as approximately 17 km (Hussain 1993, Hussain & Choudhury 1995).

The smooth-coated otter attains sexual maturity at twenty-two months in captivity (Desai 1974). Yadav (1967) observed first litter at four years of age. In captivity it mates during August to November (Desai, 1974, Naidu & Malhotra 1989). The gestation period varies from 60 to 62 days (Yadav 1967, Desai 1974, Naidu & Malhotra 1989). The litter size varies from 1 to 5 (mean = 3.25) (Desai 1974, Naidu & Malhotra 1989). The longest recorded life span in captivity is around 20 years five months (Acharjyo & Mishra 1983).

Conservation Status

Listed in Schedule II part II of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, Appendix II of CITES and VU A2cd in the IUCN Red List.

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