Hairy nosed otter: World's rarest otter species rediscovered in Borneo
Last updated 7/28/2010 8:59:58 AM
rarest otter species - the hairy nosed otter - rediscovered in Borneo
It's not been spotted for over a decade but the world's rarest otter has been rediscovered in Borneo, after being captured on camera.
The hairy-nosed otter was pictured in the Deramakot Forest Reserve in the state of Sabah. Just one otter was photographed, but it was enough to hearten conservationists who had feared the worst.
It's the first time the otter has been recorded in the state of Sabah for more than 100 years. And there hasn't been a sighting in Borneo since 1997.
The otter only occurs in a handful of locations outside of Borneo and experts only realised their important discovery after examining photos of three different otter species.The hairy-nosed otter has a flatter, longer head, a white throat and darker fur than its two relatives. It was uncovered as part of the Conservation of Carnivores in Sabah (ConCaSa) project.
It's a medium-sized otter, around 1.3m in length and weighing around 7kg. The paws are fully webbed with well-developed claws. The creature has previously been known to live in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra.
"This is great news for Sabah and shows once again how unique and fortunate we are in terms of wildlife and nature," says Dr Laurentius Ambu, director of the Sabah Wildlife Department."These findings also boost the conservation of this endangered otter internationally, as historically this otter was distributed throughout large parts of southeast Asia."
Further work to protect Bornean otters and other carnivores will be developed at the Borneo Carnivore Symposium, which will be held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia in June 2011.