text x_quick_Title2=Class: Mammalia~Order: Carnivora~Family: Mustelidae~(Pteronura brasiliensis)
text x_quick=Where In the World~` Giant otters were once abundant in South American rivers, from Colombia to Paraguay.~` Many of the rivers in South America still have giant otters, but the otter's numbers have declined dramatically. No one knows how few there still are.~ ~Take a Look!~` Giant otters are the largest of all the otters, and can be a total of six feet long.~` The largest giant otters weigh about 50 pounds.~` Giant otters have thick, dark fur and speedy, well-muscled bodies.~ ~All in the Family~` Giant otters are related to the river otters and, more distantly, the sea otters. Its distant cousins include martens, weasels, and minks.~ ~Just the Facts~` Giant otters, like humans, tend to be most active in the daytime - they sleep in dens at night.~` Giant otters live in family groups. They travel, fish, and sleep together.~` Giant otters are skilled fishermen. Although the otters can swim very quickly, they seem to prefer going after slower fish.~` The female is pregnant for just over two months. She gives birth to up to four cubs in her "cubing den."~` Giant otters have an estimated life span of about ten years.
;Habitat
text x_hab= Giant otters live in the many rivers that make up the huge Amazon basin. They live in many of the countries of South America, from Colombia, Venezuela, and the Guianas to northern Argentina and as far west as the foothills of the Andes mountains. They're found in large rivers as well as narrow forest creeks. During the rainy season, when entire forest areas flood, their territory overflows its banks and the otters swim through the wooded areas. ~\
The giant otters apparently favour blackwater areas and the lakes made by an oxbow. (When a river turns a corner, the water carves the land on the inside of the curve very sharply, while the land on the outside of the curve spreads out much more gently. The result is called an oxbow, and may eventually form a lake in the forest.) The best habitat for a giant otter is one that has low, sloping banks to allow the construction of cubing dens plus plenty of places to set up territorial marking spots. The habitat also has to have a good supply of fish for the otters to hunt and eat.
;Food
text x_eat= Otters eat fish, and are good hunters even though they have several disadvantages. The otter's ancestors were land animals - they passed on eyes that see best in air and a keen sense of smell. Of course, the otter hunts in water, where the eyes aren't much use, and the sense of smell is useless. But the otter is fast and has clever, dextrous front paws. Especially in bright light, the otter sees the form of a fish and takes off after it. While the otter can swim very fast when it needs to, it prefers to save its energy, so it goes after slower-moving fish. Its favourites are the Characoids fish. ~\
Once the fish is caught, the otter swims to shallow water. It props itself up on its elbow and eats the fish like an ice cream cone! Otters have heavy jaws, and they eat the entire fish, bones and all. Usually, otters don't share their catch with their family - it's every member for him or herself.
;Habits and Characteristics
text x_life= Giant river otters aren't only the largest otters of all - they're also the fastest! Many otters can swim underwater at about six to eight feet per second, but the giant otter uses its big body and powerful muscles to swim almost 14 feet in one second! The otter can't keep up that speed for very long, but if it could, it could go almost nine miles in one hour. When they're swimming slowly on the surface, otters dog-paddle, swimming with all four feet. (They sometimes stroke with all four limbs at the same time, sometimes first the left side and then the right, and sometimes like you dog-paddle, alternating right-front and left-back with left-front and right-back.) But when the otter wants to zoom along, it makes an up-and-down wave with its lower back and broad, strong tail. The front feet are held in close (they're only used to turn), and the back feet are held out straight, they act like a tail extension and help to push the tail up. ~\
Giant otters are territorial, and they keep other otters away from their portion of stream or river. The family group makes "markers" up and down the bank of their territory. They strip away all the plants so the open land stands out plainly in the middle of lush jungle. Then, if sight wasn't signal enough, the otters mark the spots with unbelievably smelly accumulations of otter dung which they trample into the ground. The people who study the otters say they can find otter habitats just by smelling! ~\
The otters use these marked areas as rest spots, but they dig a complete den into a river bank for the female when she's ready to have her cubs. (This area is also marked with dung and is tremendously stinky.) She has from two to five cubs, and the offspring are welcome to stay with the family until they're ready to set off and defend a territory of their own. Both parents are loyal and caring - if a cub wanders away, the entire family lifts their heads out of the water and barks with an anxious cough until the cub answers and returns. ~\
They make other sounds, as well. As they swim or rest together, the otters hum to each other. It's apparently a reassuring sound, as though the parents were saying "I'm still here, keep swimming, don't wander off." To defend their territories, the otters have a different bark from the "Where are you, baby?" bark. Researchers have learned that if they imitate the territorial bark, the otter family will come to see who's trying to take over their home range. Giant otters are very curious - once they see that it's a human who is barking, they won't swim away immediately. First they'll have a good look at the newcomer. Sometimes they might do a mock charge, swimming very fast right at the researcher's boat until they're five or ten feet away. Then the family dives down, swims further away, and surfaces again to see if they've scared the humans off. (Sometimes it works - five or six otters that are up to six feet long swimming speedily towards a boat and looking like they're going to attack has scared many a human who doesn't realise it's a bluff!)
;Threats
text x_threat= Giant otters have thick, luxurious fur coats that are worth a lot of money to people who think the skins look better on humans than they do on the otters. Although almost all of the countries in South America have made it illegal to hunt giant otters, some people still poach them. It's hard to blame the poachers. Many of the countries are very poor, and the hunters can either work for ten long, hot days clearing the jungle or they can kill one giant otter - they get paid about the same amount of money. ~\
The other problem the otters face is that their habitats are being destroyed. As the rainforests are cleared, the streams and rivers are damaged. When the trees are gone, there's nothing to stop the soil from washing into the rivers when it rains - the rivers clog up and the land is stripped of its soil. In many places, the rivers have been harnessed by hydro-electric dams to produce electricity. That kind of development destroys the otter's habitat both above and below the dams. Finally, the rivers are becoming polluted, hurting not only the giant otters but the fish they feed on as well. ~\
Biologists are still learning about giant otters. There are many parts of South America where no one knows if the otters are alive or not. More research is clearly needed - which means more money is needed. If you'd like to help, you can support some of the groups who are doing the research, like the IUCN (the World Conservation Union), and the World Wildlife Fund. Groups like the National Wildlife Federation are working to help governments understand the importance of conserving their wildlife. ~\
Finally, even though giant otter skins are only rarely sold in the U.S., you can help by never buying fur.
