Otters are small carnivorous mammals found predominantly in freshwater and coastal habitats. They are considered keystone species and play a crucial role, not only in regulating aquatic ecosystems and climate change. Unfortunately, they face a large variety of threats, ranging from conflict with humans, pollution, habitat loss and the illegal wildlife trade.
3 out of the 13 otter species are found in India which includes the Smooth Coated Otter, the elusive Asiatic Small Clawed Otter and the rare Eurasian Otter. The Smooth Coated Otter is fairly widespread, not only in India but most of South Asia. Meanwhile, the smallest species of otter, the Asian Small Clawed, is found across the tropical mountains of the Western Ghats and the Himalayas. The range of Eurasian Otter, however, is fairly ambigious. In fact, there are increasing sightings of Eurasian Otters in unexpected regions of India, particularly in Central India.
On this episode, I interview Vinni Jain, a Research Fellow at the Centre for Wildlife Studies on her research on otters at Balaghat District of Madhya Pradesh. We speak about the challenges of fieldwork, results from her research and the conservation of otters in India
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