‘A huge surprise’ as giant river otter feared extinct to be extinct pops up

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“It was a huge surprise,” said Sebastián Di Martino, director of conservation at Fundación Rewilding Argentina. “I was incredulous. An incredible feeling of so much happiness. I didn’t know if I should try to follow it or rush back to our station to tell the others.”

The cause of the excitement was the sighting, last week, of a wild giant river otter – an animal feared extinct in the country due to habitat loss and hunting – on the Bermejo River in Impenetrable national park, in north-east Argentina’s Chaco province. The last sighting of a giant otter in the wild in Argentina was in the 1980s. On the Bermejo, none have been seen for more than a century.

Di Martino captured the otter on his phone while kayaking. “It reared up, so its white chest was visible, which I recognised as the giant river otter [Pteronura brasiliensis]. At this point, your legs go weak and your heart starts beating faster.”

The reappearance of a lone giant otter in Argentina has bolstered the argument that if wild, natural areas are protected, animals will return and life can thrive again, said Di Martino. “For us, the importance of this sighting is that we’re reminded that we have to protect more of this gem of biodiversity that is Impenetrable national park,” said Di Martino.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/25/a-huge-surprise-as-giant-river-otter-feared-extinct-in-argentina-pops-up-aoe

[Kadikaado 4,302]

Cool, but also sad seeing an Ariranha alone, they usually live in groups, the family lives together to protect their place and hunt. They might look cute but their indigenous name means the jaguar of the river, they hunt alligators and even jaguars fear them, they are vicious, they are cute, but don't ever ever go near them, they can be really violent.