How many levels of protected animals are otters?

Otter is a national second-class protected wild animal in China. Compared with tigers, leopards and other large mammals or birds, otters have always paid relatively low attention, which may be because wild otters often travel at night. Their whereabouts are mysterious and dark, and they look like a big mouse with a long tail. In addition, in the traditional impression, otters also have bad reputations such as "water monkeys" and "water dogs".

In recent years, with the popularity of "Yan characters" on the Internet, a variety of otter Yan characters have also appeared in public view, changing the mysterious impression of the past, and otters have become cute and cute, and netizens have also nicknamed otters "weird".

Today is World Otter Day. Let's turn our attention to the otter, which is the top predator in the freshwater ecosystem.

Xie Jianguo, Eurasian otter, Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve

There are three kinds of otters in China.

Otter is a general term for otter subfamily of Carnivora. There are 13 species in the world, which are distributed in all continents except Australia and Antarctica. The otter is slender and streamlined, with a flat head, short ears and feet and thick hair. It lives with water. Otters mainly feed on aquatic animals such as fish, crabs and crustaceans, and occasionally catch birds and small mammals.

Otter is the top predator of freshwater ecosystem. Because it is very sensitive to habitat destruction and pollution, it is considered as the indicator species of freshwater ecosystem and the flagship species of aquatic environment such as regional rivers and wetlands. In other words, the existence of otters usually means a complete and healthy wetland ecosystem, which embodies the important ecological status and value of this area.

There are three recorded otters in China, namely Eurasian otter, Asian small claw otter and river otter. Among them, the Eurasian otter is the most widely distributed and recorded in other provinces except Ningxia in history. The Asian otter with small claws is the smallest, and there are signs of activity in the tropical rain forest area of Hainan. River otters flock around the fish and like the rocky seashore, which is only sporadically recorded in the border areas of Yunnan and Shangchuan Island along the coast of Guangdong.

"The Eurasian otter habitat in Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve accounts for almost half of the national nature reserve habitat. The natural environment in Sanjiangyuan area is well preserved and rich in food. The Eurasian otter in Sanjiangyuan and surrounding areas is in a relatively healthy state as a whole. In addition, Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve has also discovered a relatively stable Eurasian otter population in recent years. " Zhao Xiang, who participated in the compilation of 20 19 Report on the Investigation and Protection of Otters in China, said.

The reporter learned that although Eurasian otters frequently appeared in Sanjiangyuan and Tangjiahe in the past few years, Eurasian otters were also found in Shenzhen in 2020, which is the record that Eurasian otters were found again in Shenzhen after a lapse of 10 years, but the situation of Asian small claw otters and Chinese river otters is not optimistic.

Diaoluoshan Sub-bureau of Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park is the only area in China where the Asian otter with small claws has been found and monitored in the wild. At present, five Asian otters with small claws have been found in Diaoluo Mountain. "Otters are social animals, living between caves and tree holes by the river ditch. According to the analysis of the current shooting situation, these five small-clawed otters appeared in different places and at different times, and should belong to different populations. It can be inferred that there are more than five small-clawed otters living in Diaoluoshan area. However, due to the interference of human activities and the increase in the population of leopard cats, it has a great impact on the survival of the small-clawed otter, and we have to go deep into the forest to find the trace of the small-clawed otter. " Luo Fanqiang, head of the otter monitoring project of the Ecological Protection Department of Diaoluoshan Branch of Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park, said.

The otters in this river have disappeared for nearly 30 years.

Causes of otter population degradation

In history, otters have a close relationship with people. It is recorded in Chen Jiru's Notes on Mei Gong in the Ming Dynasty: "Raising and training otters in Yongzhou, without cormorants and fishing without water, often leads to tens of kilograms for a household. Some people caught turtles and saw them with their own eyes. " It can be said that otters also played an important role in the production and life of ancient people in China. According to 20 19 Report on the Investigation and Protection of Otters in China, there are two reasons for the decline of otter population: large-scale artificial hunting and habitat destruction.

Due to long-term adaptation to the aquatic environment, otter fur is compact, smooth, waterproof and warm, and a large amount of skin and meat are used in clothing and traditional medicine. Even in Tibetan areas where animals are not killed, there is a custom of making otter skins into ornaments to show their identity. In this case, only in 1950s, the otter skins purchased in Guangdong accounted for 1/3 of the whole country.

After entering 2 1 century, the loss of habitat has become another important factor affecting the living conditions of otters. With the advancement of modernization and the influence of human activities such as vegetation destruction, water pollution and overfishing, the habitat and food that otters depend on disappear, which eventually leads to a sharp decline in the population of otters.

There are many things we can do to protect otters.

Otters have high requirements for water quality. As the top species of freshwater ecosystem, the decline of otter population often means the decline of freshwater quality. Therefore, we protect otters, not only otters, but also the fresh water resources on which we depend.

All otters are protected animals in the appendix of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The International Otter Survival Foundation (IOSF) appeals to the public not to catch, buy or keep wild otters as pets. And repeatedly stressed that people's love for otters should be devoted to helping and paying attention to their living conditions, rather than treating otters as pets.

2065438+On August 27th, 2009, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora18th was held in Switzerland, and the proposal on Asian small-claw otter and river otter participated by the World Society for the Protection of Animals was adopted. These two kinds of otters are listed in Appendix I of CITES. They are protected by the highest international convention, and international trade is completely prohibited.

In the latest list of national key protected wild animals released by China this year, three species of otters in China are listed as national second-class key protected wild animals. In the areas where otters haunt, such as Sanjiangyuan, Tangjiahe and Diaoluoshan, there are special monitoring organizations to monitor and protect local otters. The main work is to deploy infrared automatic cameras, investigate field transects, make protection plans and publicize popular science.

Judging from the close relationship between man and otter in history, otters don't care about being neighbors. If management and popular science propaganda can be strengthened, otters may also become a bright spot species in urban ecological landscape.

As ordinary people, what we can do is to turn our attention to otters, at the same time, pay more attention to rivers and lakes, especially small and medium-sized rivers, show more love and protection, refuse to trade, and convey the concept of protecting otters to people around us. We still have a lot to do ...