TONIGHT: Natural World, Saturday 9th Feb, 8pm BBC2
Diablo the giant otter lives in a lake in the jungles of Peru, with his unruly family of six cubs. Even at the tender age of six months, they need to learn how to survive in this dangerous paradise. Their dad teaches them to swim and eventually to catch piranha for themselves, but they must also learn to stay away from the neighbours from hell - the giant caiman. These large members of the crocodile family are a real threat to the giant otter family and Diablo must go to extraordinary lengths to try to protect his cubs. More info here.
Here's a few of my photo's of Giant Otters that I took whilst working in the Pantanal - wonderful, characterful animals. See more here.
The giant otter is considered to be one of the most endangered mammals in the tropics, habitat loss and degradation are now a major threat, but historically hunting has resulted in the most significant demise. In the 1960s up to 3000 pelts a year were harvested from otters in the Amazon alone (source). Since the 1940s the giant otter has dissapeared from 80% of its range and in 2006 a IUCN report suggested that there were less than 5,000 remaining in the wild (IUCN). They are almost completely absent in southern Brazil, but fortunately in the Pantanal a decrease in hunting has led to healthy recolonization with more than 1,000 otters thriving in these pristine waters.
The giant otter has no serious natural predators other than humans, although it must compete with other species, including caiman for resources. Sometimes this leads to a deadly stand off as can be seen in this photograph. This spot is on a corner where two tributaries meet, the otters use the bank as a latrine to mark their territory and do not appreciate intruders.
The giant otter largely feeds on fish, particularly characins and catfish.
As I followed a group of giant otters in the Pantanal they came across a plastic bottle floating in the water. They're a very social animal and together they seemed to enjoy playing with this unusual item. Let's hope that it doesn't become too familiar a plaything in this mostly pristine wilderness. Although hundreds of miles from any significant human population it reminds us that even in the remotest parts of the world it's difficult to escape the reach of human pollution.
