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Illegal Trade

The Illegal Trade in Otters

When we consider illegal wildlife trade the focus is nearly always on high profile species such as elephant and tiger. Obviously these animals are important but otters are also a major part of the trade for fur, pets and even body parts. This is a serious threat to wild populations.

The background

In February 2006, IOSF was approached by a company wanting to buy otter pelts. They asked for catalogues and price lists, together with information on size and quality of the furs and whether the otters were farm-raised or not. This led us to investigate the trade in otter furs. We had no idea at that time what we would discover!

Furs

Trapping, killing, skinning, trading in Asian otters is largely and their exploitation has gone largely unnoticed. Nevertheless trade in otter skins is extensive and is usually a part of the whole illegal wildlife trade operation. In October 2007, Dr Hussain of the Wildlife Institute of India, stated that FOR EVERY ONE TIGER SKIN FOUND ILLEGALLY THERE ARE 10 OTTER FURS AND ONE HAUL IN TIBET REVEALED 778 OTTER SKINS.

778 otter skins – the people in the photo give an indication of scale and the skins continue into the shade and beyond!
© Conservation International – photo taken from “Reduction of Tiger Skin Consumption in Tibet”, Conservation International China, 2006

Pets

In recent years there had been a considerable increase in trade in otters for pets, particularly in Indonesia. In Japan “otter cafés” are becoming very popular and people can handle Asian small-clawed otters, creating more demand for pet otters. In May 2018 Sharne McMillan, of the University of Hong Kong, published a paper in Issue 4 of OTTER, IOSF’s Journal, on this threat which was reinforced by a TRAFFIC report “Otter Alert - A rapid assessment of illegal trade and booming demand in Japan” published in October 2018.

The pet trade is mostly for Asian small-clawed otters but smooth-coated otters are also smuggled. In Indonesia, the rare hairy-nosed otter has also been found being kept as a pet, but they are extremely difficult to look after and usually die. A lot of the trade is now done through social media and, according to TRAFFIC, 750,000 people have subscribed to a popular “otter account” in Japan.

Hairy-nosed otter kept as a pet in Kalimantan – it did not survive.
© Reza Lubis, Wetlands International Indonesia

In many cases the cubs are taken from the wild after the mother has been killed. No-one knows the full effect of the trade on otter populations, but it is an extreme threat to otter survival, both locally and worldwide.

What can be done?

In 2008 IOSF produced a report into the "Alarming Trade in Otter Furs" and this was updated in 2014 to include information on the pet trade in a report entitled "The Shocking Facts of the Illegal Trade in Otters".

THE BIGGEST PROBLEM OF ALL IS LACK OF AWARENESS: LACK OF AWARENESS IN ASIA OF THE IMPACTS OF THIS TRADE AND LACK OF AWARENESS IN WESTERN COUNTRIES THAT IT IS EVEN GOING ON!

IOSF has been working on a worldwide programme of education. Trade is often driven by poverty as poor fishermen seek to add to their income and at the same time remove a “pest” competing for fish. People need to be aware of the benefits of otters, what healthy populations mean for the environment, and dispel myths causing otters to be intentionally disturbed, persecuted and hunted.

In 2009 IOSF started a programme of Asian training workshops in otter field techniques, public awareness programmes, law enforcement and general conservation issues. Workshops have been held in Cambodia (2009), Indonesia (2013), Bangladesh (2014), China (2016) and Laos (2018) and the impacts are ongoing in the community.

Click here to read the reports on these training workshops.

There must be more international collaboration. In 2017 IOSF appointed four regional co-ordinators for Asia, who work with the Chair of IOSF’s Asian Otter Network, Prof Padma de Silva. Their roles are:

• To encourage more interaction between people in their region
• To identify priorities in their region
• To develop more education material appropriate for their region and throughout Asia
• To co-ordinate research work so that information is shared and there is minimal repetition of work

What you can do to help

	Spread the word - The most important thing is to make people aware of the problem. Tell your friends and family and direct them to this webpage to see what is really going on.
	Donate to our Illegal Trade Fund at www.ottershop.co.uk by selecting “illegal trade” option in the drop-down menu. This will help to confiscate live animals in trade, support awareness programmes and undercover work to identify main problem areas and personnel involved.
	Report If you see otter skins or live otters for sale, including over the internet, please give as much detail as possible – date, time, location, number of skins or live otters, website, etc and if possible include a photo. All information you provide will be treated in strict confidence. However, please remember that some traders can be aggressive, so never put yourself at risk. Send this information via our preformatted email or if you would rather remain anonymous use the secure, online whistleblower platform – Wildleaks.

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THIS ILLEGAL CRIME IS THREATENING THE SURVIVAL OF OTTERS AND YOU CAN HELP.

If you have seen something you think may be illegal trade of otters (fur, body parts or pets) then please click the "Email us a preformatted form" link below to fill in preformatted email and send it to us. If you have any images to include, please attach those to the email too.

Please give as much detail as possible.

IOSF will not give out any names, email address or further information and all information will only be seen by IOSF staff.

Thank you for helping the International Otter Survival Fund (IOSF) and the Asian Otter Conservation Network (AOCN).

Click here for more information.