Vadodara: Rivers and wetlands of Central and South Gujarat have become the new abodes of the threatened smooth-coated otters.
In fact, in the last three years, the smooth-coated otters, which were on the verge of extinction in Gujarat, have been sighted in Surat, Bharuch, Panchmahals, Vadodara and Dahod districts.
“In the last three years, we have made 27 direct sightings of smooth-coated otters and there are indirect evidence of their presence as well,” said Akshit Suthar, who is working with the Gujarat Ecology Society, Vadodara and is part of the IUCN Otter Specialist group.
It is after almost a decade that the endangered species have been sighted again. “Earlier, there were scattered records of the smooth-coated otters in North, Central and South Gujarat. In the current study, their presence is found in Central and South Gujarat whereas their population has wiped out from North Gujarat,” he said.
India is home to three species of otters - smooth-coated otters, small-clawed otters and eurasian otters. “In Gujarat, only smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata) locally known as ‘jal biladi’, ‘ud-bilado’ and ‘undu’ are found,” he said.
To create awareness, Gujarat Ecology Society, Vadodara along with forest department of Surat and Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology, Bhuj on May 30 celebrated ‘World Otter Day’. Since 2014, May 30, is celebrated as ‘World Otter Day’ globally by the International Otter Survival Fund to raise awareness of the plights of otters across the word. The aim of the day is to create awareness and draw attention to the worlds 13 species of otter – which are all listed in the IUCN Red List.
“Our aim was to sensitise the staff to strengthen the otter conservation work at grassroots level with more scientific way,” Suthar said.
During the celebrations, the staff learnt the ecology, behaviour, status and distribution and conservation threats faced by the elusive mammal through presentation and documentary film titled ‘..And then There Were None’ made by Syed Fayaz of RGB Films which was supported by the British High Commission's Devolved Environmental Project Fund. The film exposes the rampant poaching of otter for fur trade.
