The Eurasian otter has been listed on Appendix I since 1977.ĭespite these constraints, illegal commerce in pet otters flourishes on social media platforms that have popularized all sorts of exotic animals-from venomous spiders to big cats to talking birds-and made it easier for people to sell them. The uplistings would prohibit all international commercial trade of those species. Some nations want to prohibit international trade of certain otter species, and at the major upcoming CITES meeting in May, countries will discuss new proposals to move the Asian small-clawed otter and the smooth-coated otter to Appendix I of the treaty. This means that people need a permit to export them and that the permit can be granted only if the source government determines that taking an otter from the wild won’t jeopardize the survival of the species. The small-clawed otter, the smooth-coated otter, and the hairy-nosed otter are also listed on Appendix II of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), which regulates the global wildlife trade. To protect the animals, most Southeast Asian countries have enacted laws banning their capture, sale, possession, and transport. “It’s not like breeding kittens,” says Nicole Duplaix, who teaches about otter ecology at Oregon State University, in Corvallis, and is chairwoman of the otter specialist group for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which sets the conservation status of species. To keep the cubs and parents healthy, owners have to feed them a highly specialized diet and give them shots to prevent infection, such as distemper. The pet trade, however, has emerged as the most pressing threat to these otters in the wild, the Traffic report states.īreeding them in captivity, Krishnasamy says, is possible but difficult. They’ve also long been poached for their dense fur-made into coats and hats that are especially popular in China-and for their blood, fat, and bones, all believed in certain parts of Asia to have healing powers.
They ingest dangerous pesticides and have been losing habitat to development. The four otter species aren’t on the brink of extinction, but they’re not exactly thriving. Most sellers offered young small-clawed otters, smaller (at less than 10 pounds) than their longer-clawed counterparts. People will pay thousands of dollars to own one of these creatures.Īccording to a recent Traffic report, researchers counting the number of otters for sale on Facebook in five Southeast Asian countries documented at least 700 between January and mid-May 2018.
Otters found in Southeast Asia are intelligent and winsome, with slender little bodies, chubby legs, and baby faces. “The cute factor is unfortunately the appeal,” says Kanitha Krishnasamy, director of the Southeast Asia branch of the nonprofit Traffic, the main organization that monitors the global wildlife trade. Researchers believe that people are stealing them from the wild in Indonesia, Thailand, and other countries in Southeast Asia to sell them as pets there and in Japan. Small-clawed otters and to a lesser extent the three other otter species found in Southeast Asia-the Eurasian otter, the smooth-coated otter, and the hairy-nosed otter-have become new stars of the regional pet trade. Her name is Sakura, and videos on YouTube and Twitter of her life in Japan have made her a social media sensation. She’s a small-clawed otter, an Asian species that in the wild hunts for fish and crustaceans and frolics in streams and mangroves. This pet isn’t a dog or a cat or a rabbit or a hamster. She sleeps in a bed, plays with a ball, and clings onto her stuffed animal toy. Editor’s note: On August 25 and 26, the 18th CITES Conference of the Parties voted to list the Asian small-clawed otter and the smooth-coated otter on Appendix I, effectively banning international commercial trade in both species.
0 kommentar(er)
