Illegal Otter Trade : An analysis of seizures in selected Asian countries (1980-2015)

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KEY FINDINGS

Although numbers are small, in Southeast Asian countries the quantities of live otters seized increased in the last four years (2011-2014) to average six individuals per seizure compared to three to four previously. A maximum of 16 live otters were seized in 2013.

The study reveals a rise in the number of otter skin seizure cases over the years, but a decrease in the quantities being seized: from two to three cases a year averaging 50 individuals per seizure, to 8 seizures a year of about 30 individuals each. More cases could mean an improvement in enforcement efforts, but the lower quantities seen in those seizures implied a decline in otter populations, says the report.

The authors also reported that illegal trade records involving otters were scarce and that the trade was likely to be much larger than official seizure data alone suggested.

This, together with a lack of population information, legal loopholes that enable trafficking and the low priority given to otter trade, forms a large gap in information on the impacts of illegal trade on the region’s wild otter populations.