The International Otter Survival Fund's children's otter presentation. Learn more about otters, their role in the environment and what we can do to help.

1. International Otter
Survival Fund
IOSF

2. What are otters?
• Otters are Mammals – but
what are mammals?
1. They have fur
2. They give birth to live young
3. They have warm blood
4. They feed their babies milk

3. There are many different types of mammal –
Can you each name one?

4. Otters belong to a group of mammals called
Mustelids
Mustelids
So who are their cousins?
Weasels
And many others

5. Now to Otters…
How many different species of otter are there?

6. There are 13 species of otter
around the world. Otters live
in all continents apart from
Australasia and Antarctica.
Shall we meet them?

7. African Clawless Otter Congo Clawless Otter
African Otters

8. Hairy-Nosed Otter
Asian Otters
Asian-Short Clawed Otter
Smooth Coated Otter

9. Sea Otter
North American River
Otter
North American Otters

10. Marine Otter or Sea
Cat
Neotropical Otter or
Long-Tailed Otter
Southern River Otter
Giant Otter
Latin American Otters

11. Number 13?
In the UK, we have the Eurasian
Otter

12. Eurasian Otter Facts
Length: Between 1-1.2m
How many? There are
around 10,000 Otters in
the UK.
Weight: Between 8-10kg
Day or Night?
Freshwater Otters are more active
during the night whereas coastal otters
are active throughout the day and night.

13. Do you
have any
questions?

14. Life Cycle
A Cub is born –
sometimes with 2 or
3 siblings
At around 5 weeks
they open their eyes.
By 7 weeks they are
eating solid food and
are a lot more active
After 10 weeks they
are ready to follow
Mum out of the holt
By 5 months these cubs
will be able to fish for
themselves. However,
they will stay with their
mum for around 12-15
months
These otters won’t
start having their
own cubs until they
are at least 18
months old

15. What makes otters so special?
They have long tails
to help them swim
Their ears, eyes and
nose are all in a line
meaning they can
stay low in the water
They have webbed
feet to help them
swim faster
They have long
whiskers to help
them find fish in the
dark
Otters have two layers of fur to
keep them warm. For every cm2
of skin there are 50,000 hairs!

16. Be an Otter Spotter
Otters can be
very hard to spot
in the wild.
They are shy and
often don’t want
to be seen!

17. Which one of these is an otter?
1 2
3 4

18. Otter sound
• If you’re lucky you might hear an
otter ‘peep’
• Can you do it? Put your hands up if
you think you can do an impression
of an otter.

19. Secondary Signs
• If you see an otter, that’s great, that is
called a primary sign.
• A secondary sign is when you find something
that shows you that an otter has been in an
area.
• Can you name some secondary signs?

20. Secondary signs
Remember 5! Otters have 5
toes, unlike cats and dogs which
only have 4. Otters also have
webbed feet to help the swim!
Otter poo is called spraint. Spraint
often makes the grass grow very
green. It is also usually filled with
fish bones and crab shell!
Otters use spraint to mark their
area – a lot of the secondary signs
will be marked by spraint! Otters
can recognise each other just from
the smell of their poo!
Footprints
Poo

21. Secondary Signs
Otters are small and slender.
When they make runs through
grass they make tunnels – unlike
people or sheep. Also, if you
think you have found an otter
run look for spraint. No spraint –
no otter run!
We already know how special
otter fur is so they need to keep
it clean. Once an otter leaves
the sea it needs to wash the salt
out its fur. This is why it needs
fresh water pools! Don’t forget
to look for spraint!
Freshwater
Pools
Otter runs

22. Holts
An otters home is called a HOLT.
A holt can be under rocks, in
holes in the ground or at the base
of tree.
Think spraint! If there is spraint
then it could be a holt. If you
think you have found a holt you
should leave the area. Otters
have sensitive smell and we don’t
want to disturb them!

23. Do you
have any
questions?

24. Why are
otters so
important?

25. • Otters are semi-aquatic. This means that
they live in the water and on land. They need
clean environments in both! If you have otters
– you have a clean environment
• Otters are carnivores and occupy the top of
the food chain. Their presence means a
balance for every other species

26. Let’s learn more
about the food
chain

27. Food Web
Otter
Algae/Seaweed
Oxygen
Did you know? Seaweed and Algae
account for around 70-80% of the
world’s oxygen!
Crabs
Fish
Crustaceans
Plankton

28. Food Web
Otters are at the top of the food chain but
what does this mean?
• Any pollutants that are in the food chain will always
make their way to otters. So, if animals or plants in
the plankton were to take in something toxic, soon it
would be in the otter’s system too!
• They maintain a balance – if otters are
removed other species soon start to suffer.

29. What is hurting otters?
• Pollution
• Hunting
• Habitat Loss
Most the problems otters face are caused
by people – thankfully, it’s us that can
change that!

30. How can YOU make the difference?
PLASTIC – A MILLION plastic bottles a MINUTE
are bought worldwide! You can use reusable plastic
bottles and refill them with tap water. This way less
plastic will find its way into landfill or our oceans!
PICK UP THREE – A campaign to remove plastic from
the countryside. Every time you go for a walk, take
three pieces of rubbish home with you and put it in
the bin!
SPREAD THE WORD – Otters don’t have a voice, so
we need to talk for them.
Tell everyone you know about the importance of otter
conservation. Raise awareness of the International
Otter Survival Fund too!
SWITCH OFF LIGHTS
SAVE WATER – Turn off taps. The world doesn’t
have an endless supply of clean water
CHALLENGE– I challenge you to go and tell two people
everything you have learned about otters today!

31. Do you
have any
questions?

32. What do IOSF do?
Otter Rehab and Release Centre
IOSF cares for injured and orphaned
otters from across the UK and Ireland
To date we have cared for over 200
otters
As otter cubs stay with their mother
for 12-15 months, they must also stay
in IOSF’s care for that period of
time.
Each otter cub we receive costs
around £1,600 to raise to release!
If you find an abandoned cub what should you do? Sometimes mothers
leave their cubs while they feed. Watch it and if you are at all unsure
contact IOSF for further advice!

33. Reducing the Otter Trade
IOSF is working across the world to
reduce the illegal trade. The trade
is focused on furs and pets.
In the U.S. and Canada 50,000
otters a year are killed through
legal trapping. IOSF is passionate
about reducing this.
Many of the furs end up in China from
surrounding countries. In relation to
pets, Indonesia is worst but it is
becoming an increasing problem in
Japan.

34. International Workshops
IOSF has conducted a number of
workshops across Asia and Africa,
including Africa’s first ever otter
conservation workshop in Tanzania
Our most recent workshop was held in
Laos in April 2018 and we there is now a
Lao Otter Network.
From these workshops we have established
the African Otter Network and Asian
Otter Network allowing a better
understanding of otters across each
continent

35. Research and Projects in UK and abroad
IOSF has now been involved in projects in over 60 countries across the
globe, including being involved in rediscovering the Hairy-nosed Otter in
South East Asia.
We monitor otter populations on the Isle of Skye every year.
IOSF sends all otter mortalities to Cardiff University for PM’s. These
PM’s tell us how old otters are living to, cause of death and a number of
other factors that affect otters and other species.

36. TeamOtter
Visit IOSF’s website
that is dedicated to
children
www.loveotters.org
Keep up to date with
the latest news, games,
quizzes and much more.

37. International Otter Survival Fund
Help the work of
the
International
Otter Survival
Fund
www.otter.org

38. With special thanks to the John Spedan
Lewis Foundation

39. Do you
have any
questions?