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Related: About this forum'A huge surprise' as giant river otter feared extinct in Argentina pops up
Source: The Guardian
Conservationists thrilled at the sighting of the wild predator, last seen in the country in the 1980s
Graeme Green
Tue 25 May 2021 06.00 BST
It was a huge surprise, said Sebastián Di Martino, director of conservation at Fundación Rewilding Argentina. I was incredulous. An incredible feeling of so much happiness. I didnt know if I should try to follow it or rush back to our station to tell the others.
The cause of the excitement was the sighting, last week, of a wild giant river otter an animal feared extinct in the country due to habitat loss and hunting on the Bermejo River in Impenetrable national park, in north-east Argentinas Chaco province. The last sighting of a giant otter in the wild in Argentina was in the 1980s. On the Bermejo, none have been seen for more than a century.
Di Martino captured the otter on his phone while kayaking. It reared up, so its white chest was visible, which I recognised as the giant river otter (Pteronura brasiliensis). At this point, your legs go weak and your heart starts beating faster.
There are two possible explanations for the otters return. The closest known populations of giant otter, which is endangered globally, are in the Paraguayan Pantanal, which could connect with this river from a distance of over 1,000km. Thats the simplest explanation, said Di Martino. The other possibility is that theres a remnant population of the species in Argentina thats gone undetected. These animals live in family groups, and this was a solitary individual, which we think came from a group.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/25/a-huge-surprise-as-giant-river-otter-feared-extinct-in-argentina-pops-up-aoe
Judi Lynn
(160,515 posts)Giant otter taking time to enjoy a tasty eel snack.
Judi Lynn
(160,515 posts)Solitary otters have a surprisingly rich vocabulary
By Sofia MoutinhoMay. 26, 2021 , 2:00 PM
Neotropical river otters spend most of their time alone, but that doesnt stop them from being big chatterboxes. These animalswhich live in Central and South Americamake a variety of squeaks and growls to convey everything from surprise to playfulness, a new study has found. The discovery could help reveal how communication evolved in all ottersand perhaps help protect these endangered animals.
The study is an in-depth and insightful investigation into the vocal repertoire of this understudied otter species, says Alexander Saliveros, a biologist and otter expert at the University of Exeter who was not part of the research.
All otters make sounds like growls and squeaks to communicate. Some social species, such as the Amazons giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), use up to 22 different call types. Others, like the lonesome North American river otter (Lontra canadensis), only have four known calls.
But the neotropical river otter (L. longicaudis) has largely remained a mystery. Solitary inhabitants of rivers and lakes, they come together only once a year to mate. That makes their communication especially hard to study, says Sabrina Bettoni, a bioacoustician at the University of Vienna
More:
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/05/solitary-otters-have-surprisingly-rich-vocabulary
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Giant river otters from Brazil: