Found rare nose-haired otter in Borneo island

Scientists say they have rediscovered one of the world's rarest otters by placing automatic camera traps on Borneo island, which belongs to the sovereignty of Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Picture 1 of Found rare nose-haired otter in Borneo island

Automatic camera trapping in Deramakot Forest Reserve, Sabah state, Malaysia.
(Photo: ConCaSa )

According to the BBC news agency, it is the hairy-nosed otter, the scientific name Lutra sumatrana, captured at Deramakot Forest Reserve, Sabah state, Malaysia. The last record of human sightings saw the hairy otters in Sabah more than 100 years ago and completely "disappeared" from Borneo after a mature individual of this otter was caught. died by a car in 1997.

The nose-haired otter is found only in a few places outside the island of Borneo. Experts have confirmed that it is actually a hairy otter after examining the image between it and two other otter species, the Lutrogale perspicillata, and the Asian-clawed Aonyx cinereus. The hairy-nosed otter has the main characteristics to distinguish the two species from having white neck, longer head and darker coat. It is of medium size, body length is about 1.3 m and weighs about 7 kg, the legs have a full swimming membrane with well developed claws.

The BBC said the nose-haired otter image was 'snapped' by an automatic camera trap (camera trap) - one of many was placed in and around Deramakot Forest Reserve during the past two years. This is part of the Conservation of Carnivores in Sabah (ConCaSa) - a project initiated by the Leibniz Research Institute for Zoo and Wildlife (IZW), Germany in collaboration with the Protection Department Wildlife and Forestry Branch in Sabah.

Picture 2 of Found rare nose-haired otter in Borneo island

Adult Lutra sumatrana nose-haired otter.Photo: Andreas Wilting

The hairy-nosed otter is currently listed as 'endangered' in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and is considered one of the most seriously threatened otter species in the world. Many mature individuals have been found in some Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, but most of them have been hunted for meat and used in traditional medicine. In addition, pollution, habitat loss and prey loss due to overfishing have also caused the 'population' of this otter to ' decline ' over the past 30 years.

'This is a great and lucky news for Deramakot Forest Reserve, Sabah. The finding shows that long-term sustainable forest management is one of the important things to do to preserve the region's endangered species and protect biodiversity in the tropical forests of Borneo. ' said Datuk Sam Mannan, director of the Forestry Department in Sabah.

Details of this finding were published in the Journal of Conservation of Small Carnivores - a publication of the IUCN Committee for Species of Survival (SSC).

Automated camera traps located in Deramakot Forest Reserve also capture 5 species of the Cat family (including leopard leopard Borneo Neofelis diardi, Borneo Catopuma badia cat, broiler cat Pardofelis marmorata, leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis and flat-headed cat Prionailurus planiceps) and 13 other carnivore species, including dog bear Helarctos malayanus. The study also recorded the first video of the Cynogale bennettii otter.

Below are some photos taken by automatic camera trapping at Deramakot Forest Reserve - Photo: Andreas Wilting .

Picture 3 of Found rare nose-haired otter in Borneo island