Foreword

Humans have no natural adaptations for life in water. We therefore understandably find the abilities of mammals of aquatic habits fascinating. Their grace and endurance in water beguile us. When excellent swimming ability is coupled with a playful disposition, the animal has irresistible charm for us. Otters are a prime example of how these characteristics enchant us, as is reflected in such wonderful stories as Gavin Maxwell's Ring of Bright Water. The slim volume in hand, however, reflects another side of the human relationship to these captivating creatures. This side certainly should not reciprocally endear us to otters, for human activities around the world have been inimical to the very survival of this cosmopolitan group of animals.

Although the direct effects of humans on otters have been severe in some instances, as is the case for the sea otter and giant otter, indirect effects have been the more important worldwide. This Action Plan identifies and discusses several significant factors that influence habitat quality and the presence of otters. The reader will quickly see that there has been insufficient recognition of the value of otters as indicator species of environmental health. Otters are, indeed, a fine illustration of why species conservation work is so valuable generally. On the one hand, they are sensitive to degradation of water quality, aquatic food chains, and terrestrial habitat adjacent to water, and the resultant diminishment of their populations is cause alone for alarm. On the other hand, when close acquaintance is possible, people find that otters are very charismatic animals. Information and communications about them and their welfare therefore attract attention in a way that the familiar generalities about environmental problems do not. Thus, when fashioned appropriately, materials on these aquatic acrobats can go a long way to make the arguments needed to conserve riverine, lacustrine, and other imperiled otter habitats, with all of their constituent plant and animal species. For these fellow species, otters are environmental ambassadors of first-class rank.

A large part of the task ahead in the conservation of otters relates to obtaining more information about them. This Action Plan provides a succinct yet very comprehensive summary of knowledge pertinent to their conservation. It contains original materials otherwise unavailable. Yet it is obvious from the accounts that we need to know a great deal more. Among other things, basic research to help explain their comparatively low levels of genetic variation, field and captive studies on their reproductive biology, investigations of their water balance physiology, all are needed. Even more fundamental is simply determining by systematic surveys where otters still occur and assessing how well their populations are faring in a world increasingly impacted by detrimental human factors.

The long-term responses needed for conservation of otters involve major changes in the outlooks of people and governments. The growing acceptance of the biological and economic importance of wetlands through the Ramsar convention is a favorable sign of change. Still, much more needs be done to enhance regard for the intrinsic as well as extrinsic values of the ecosystems that otters inhabit.

Finally, as I strongly commend this Action Plan for otters to governments, wildlife agencies, and conservation organizations, I sincerely hope that the officials concerned and other individuals involved will commit to rapidly making this an obsolete publication. By this I mean establishing and supporting projects and programs to supply more information on otters and their habitats and to act on available data and studies to protect and conserve these marvelous animals and the aquatic resources they symbolize. Otters and humans deserve no less.

George B. Rabb
Chairman
IUCN Species Survival Commission

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