OTTERS!

testimonial
Nicole duplaix
Chair, Otter Specialist Group
Otters are very special. I dare you to
look at a group of otters for more than
ten minutes and not be captivated,
usually for life. What is it about them?
They are actually fierce predators and
fighters when need be, nothing cuddly
about them. Yet a short-clawed otter
will play with a pebble for hours, tossing
it from hand to hand without a glance.
North American otters gallop and slide
in the snow, chasing one another -
they don’t look like predators then. As
a professional biologist, I was told that I
must not attribute human emotions to
the animals I observe, but after 40 years
I am still tempted, because otters are so
expressive, so vocal, and so clear about
their intentions and feelings.
Otters have given me great pleasure over
the years, both in the wild and in captivity,
and I still feel privileged and content every
time I am with them. I remember when I
saw my first wild giant otter in Suriname
in 1976. One otter surfaced right next to
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