Otters
in trouble in Asia
January 2013. Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport has seen countless
traffickers attempt to smuggle a myriad wild animals out in luggage, but never
otters-until now. Officers at the airport's Wildlife Checkpoint and the Royal
Thai Customs discovered 11 live otters when they scanned a bag that had been left
at the oversized luggage area of the airport.
As
the bag bore no tags and no one claimed it, the officers opened the luggage to
find six Smooth Coated Otters and five Oriental Small Clawed Otters inside. The
otters, which look to be juveniles, will undergo health checks before being
handed over to the Bang-Pra Breeding Center in Chonburi for care.
Otters
disappearing from their range
Otters and some species of wild cats are at serious risk in South-East Asia, experts said in 2009 after analysing thousands of camera-trap records that helped map the regional distribution of many small carnivore species. Some, like otters, have apparently disappeared from parts of their former range.
Otters and some species of wild cats are at serious risk in South-East Asia, experts said in 2009 after analysing thousands of camera-trap records that helped map the regional distribution of many small carnivore species. Some, like otters, have apparently disappeared from parts of their former range.
The
experts, including members of the IUCN-SSC Cat Specialist, Otter Specialist and
Small Carnivore Specialist Groups had pushed for more research on small
carnivores like otters that play an important ecological role in tropical
forests but receive relatively little conservation attention. They also called
on Thailand to develop a national action plan to ensure greater protection for
small carnivores.
"This
find is a surprise and a worrying one. Otter skins have been interdicted in
trade elsewhere in Asia, but live otters are a new development as far as we
know. Yet another species we know little about is in danger from wildlife
traffickers," said TRAFFIC's Regional
Director in South-East Asia, Dr William Schaedla.
"It
is great to see that frontline officers in Thailand are maintaining vigilance.
However there must be more intelligence led investigations that will arrest the
problem at source," he added.
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