Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 August 2025 | 17(8): 27403–27406
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9655.17.8.27403-27406
#9655 | Received 30 January 2025 | Finally accepted 20 August 2025
First photographic record of
Smooth-coated Otter Lutra perspicillata (Carnivora:
Mustelidae) from Nandhaur
Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttarakhand, India
Nishant Bhardwaj 1, Hritik Nautiyal 2, Harish
Guleria 3 & Bilal Habib 4
1,2,4 Wildlife Institute of India,
Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001, India.
3 Zoological Society of London,
Regent’s Park, London, England NW1 4RY.
1 bhardwajnishant.nb@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 hritiknautiyal14@gmail.com, 3 harish.guleria@zsl.org,
4 bh@wii.gov.in
Editor: S.S. Talmale,
Zoological Survey of India, Pune, India. Date of publication: 26 August 2025
(online & print)
Citation:
Bhardwaj, N., H. Nautiyal, H. Guleria
& B. Habib (2025). First
photographic record of Smooth-coated Otter Lutra
perspicillata (Carnivora: Mustelidae)
from Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttarakhand, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 17(8): 27403–27406. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9655.17.8.27403-27406
Copyright: © Bhardwaj et al. 2025. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: The study was part of a transboundary tiger project in Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary. It was funded by the Zoological Society of London through the Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Program of German cooperation, IUCN and KFW.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: We would like to thank Uttarakhand Forest Department, CWLW Uttarakhand, DFO Haldwani, SDO Haldwani, and RFO Nandhaur for necessary permissions and support. We are grateful to Zoological Society of London for financial support. We would like to thank Nicole Duplaix and Atul Borker for helping us identify the otter. We are indebted to Than Singh Adhikari and Devendra Singh for helping us capture these photographs and their invaluable support in the field.
Otters belong to the family Mustelidae and are well adapted for semi-aquatic life with
their webbed feet, fur, and tapering tail. They serve as indicator species
within ecosystems and play a vital role in regulating invasive species in
aquatic environments (Anoop & Hussain 2005). There are 14 extant species of
otters found worldwide, with three species occurring in India (Mammal Diversity
Database 2025).
India is home to the Eurasian
otter Lutra lutra,
the Smooth-coated Otter Lutra perspicillata, and the Small-clawed Otter Aonyx cinereus (Hussain
1999). Smooth-coated Otter is a large-sized otter, weighing 8–11 kg and found
across much of southern and southeastern Asia (Pocock 1941; Medway 1969;
Hussain 1993; Hussain 2013a). It is classified as ‘Vulnerable’ on the
IUCN Red List and is protected under Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act,
1972 (amended 2022). Among all three species of otters found in India,
Smooth-coated Otter is perhaps most widely distributed (Hussain 2013b). They
have been studied from different regions of India, for example Chambal region
(Hussain & Choudhury 1995, 1997; Hussain 1996, 2013a), Kerala (Anoop &
Hussain 2004, 2005; Raha & Hussain 2016; Sreehari & Nameer 2016), Goa
(Krupa et al. 2017; Dias et al. 2022; Duke & Goldberg 2022; Dias 2023),
Odisha (Mishra et al. 2018; Palei et al. 2020, 2023; Rath et al. 2023), and Rajasthan (Nawab 2013), among
others.
In Uttarakhand, otters are
present in Bhagirathi basin (Pal et al. 2021), upper Ganga basin (Nawab &
Hussain 2012a,b; Khan et al. 2014) Kosi,
Ramganga, and Khoh (Gupta et al. 2020). In addition
to that, otters are also found in Rajaji, Corbett Tiger Reserve, and Lansdowne
Forest Division (Nawab & Hussain 2012a; Joshi 2014; Basak
et al. 2021). However, there is limited information regarding presence of
Smooth-coated Otters in Kumaon region of Uttarakhand,
particularly beyond Corbett Tiger Reserve. This situation is also evident in
the Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary (NWS), where suitable
habitat for otters exists, yet no studies have reported their presence. We
present the first photographic record of Smooth-coated Otter from Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary.
Methods
Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary was created
in 2012 and lies in Uttarakhand state of India. Its geographical extent is
79.675 E, 29.184 N & 80.009 E, 29.138 N (Mehra 2015).
It is bounded by Gola River in the west and Sharda River in the east, providing
connectivity with Shuklaphanta National Park of
Nepal. NWS is an integral part of the Terai Arc
Landscape (TAL), which is spread across India (Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and
Bihar) and Nepal. The major forest type is tropical moist-deciduous forest
dominated by Sal Shorea robusta
and associated species such as Terminalia tomentosa
and Adina cordifolia (Champion
& Seth 1968). Among the mammals, Bengal Tiger Panthera
tigris, Indian Elephant Elephas maximus,
Sambar Rusa unicolor, Chital Axis axis, and Barking Deer Muntiacus
vaginalis are found. NWS comprises of four ranges, namely, Nandhaur, Jaulasal, Danda, and Sharda with an area of approximately 270 km2
(Figure 1). Nandhaur and Kalaunia
are the major rivers which are perennial in nature. Apart from that several
seasonal streams crisscross the Nandhaur landscape.
On 6 March 2024, we saw an otter
while we were deploying camera traps for the estimation of tiger density in NWS.
However, there was some doubt regarding the identity of the species. To further
confirm the identity of otter species found in NWS, we deployed five IR camera
traps (OT1, OT2, OT3, OT4, and OT5) (Cuddeback Inc,
USA) for a period of 10 days in the Nandhaur range of
NWS. The placement of camera traps was based on the presence of otter signs,
such as tracks or scat. The geographical coordinates of the camera traps were
recorded using a Garmin GPSMAP 64s device. The resultant data was then used to
create a map using QGIS version 3.34.4 Prizren (QGIS
Development Team 2024).
Results
Otter photographs were captured
at two locations in the Nandhaur range, i.e., OT4 and
OT5 on separate days (Image 1). They were identified as Smooth-coated Otter
based on tail characteristics, smooth fur, and overall stature in consultation
with members of IUCN Otter Specialist Group (Atul Borker
& Nicole Duplaix, pers. comm. July 2024).
Discussion
This study establishes the
presence of Smooth-coated Otter in Nandhaur Wildlife
Sanctuary and future management plans must take it into consideration. Forest
department should focus on minimising disturbance to
riverine habitat, reducing soil erosion, and conserving fish population which
will allow otters to thrive in NWS.
There are no reliable estimates
of Smooth-coated Otter population, and it is suspected to decline by more than
30% over the next three decades (Khoo et al. 2021). Lack of information on
population estimates and distribution of species could hinder our ability to
make informed decisions, potentially undermining conservation efforts.
Therefore, it is imperative to conduct systematic surveys for otters in Nandhaur landscape to determine their population and
distribution patterns, thus ensuring their long-term survival.
For
figure & image - - click here for full PDF
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