Otter skins seizures in Assam signal continued trade in animal parts

On May 23, in a joint operation carried out by the sleuths of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau along with Dhemaji forest department, four otter skins were seized from a man at Jonai in Dhemaji district of Assam. While seizure of otter parts is not very common, this recent incident highlighted the fact that smuggling and poaching of otters for their skin and other body parts is taking place in northeast India.

Otters are carnivorous mammals belonging to the Mustelidae family which includes weasels, badgers, minks and the like. They are one of the top predators found in river ecosystems across the country. Out of the 13 otter species found globally, three are found in India – the Eurasian otter, smooth-coated otter and small-clawed otter.

Speaking about the raid in Assam, Dibakar Mahanta, a forest official from Dhemaji forest department told Mongabay-India, “We received a tip-off about a person hailing from East Siang district in Arunachal Pradesh, carrying a few otter skins. Based on that lead, we nabbed him from the Nepalibasti area of Jonai, a subdivision in Dhemaji. He said he is just a carrier and his job was to transport these skins to another person in Gogamukh. He said he is unaware about the route ahead.”

International demand

Authorities say they believe that the skins seized are at least a year old. A Wildlife Crime Control Bureau official involved in the raid, on the condition of anonymity, told Mongabay-India, “While examining the skin, we realised that it was at least a year old. These were not fresh kills. The texture of the skin felt very hard. To find out the exact age of the skin, a forensic test needs to be done.”

The official also said that the otters are killed either by using traps or weapons like spears. “They don’t generally use guns for killing otters because a bullet wound damages the skin and reduces its value, which is the main body part in demand for smugglers,” he said.

According to the official, there is a demand for otter skins in the fashion industry while its hair is used for making paintbrushes.

Renowned environmentalist Anwaruddin Choudhury, speaking on the demand for otter skins said, “Tibet was once the main market for otter skins. They were used for making raincoats. In fact, the smuggling of wild animals including otters had become so high in Tibet, that the Dalai Lama himself had to make an appeal to the Tibetan people to stop using otters and other animal skins for fashion purposes. That created the necessary awareness and since then, the smuggling of wild animal parts in Tibet has decreased quite a bit. However, the recent seizures show that otter smuggling is still happening. One advantage of smuggling otter skin is that they can be dried, folded and even carried in a pocket. So that minimises chances of detection to a large extent.”

A report by World Wide Fund for Nature-India elaborated on how furriers considered otter fur the “diamond” of their business, as it is dense and durable. It also mentions the demand in Tibet, stating, “In Tibet, otter skins are used to adorn the traditional costume ‘Chuba’ and head gears are decorated with trophies worn during festivals and sports.”

Live otters are used in some places of West Bengal and Bangladesh by fishermen to catch fish. Choudhury says, “Like fishermen use cormorant birds to catch fishes in China and Japan, such techniques are used featuring otters in Bengal. Otters are used to drive fish towards the fishing net.”

When asked about this, the anonymous Wildlife Crime Control Bureau official said, “We are keeping an eye over this. While it is definitely a violation of wildlife law, it is not a major crime. Unless any otter is killed, we don’t want to go after them.”

Shadow of more charismatic wildlife

On the IUCN Red List, the Eurasian otter holds the status of “near threatened”, while the small-clawed otter and smooth-coated otter are “vulnerable”.

While otters get good protection in protected forests like Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park, they are vulnerable outside the protected areas.

Ramesh Gogoi, former Divisional Forest Officer at Kaziranga National Park said, “Otters haven’t really been poached here. KNP has a good population of otters with most wetlands in the park having a herd of otters.”

Photographic evidence of the presence of otters in Kaziranga National Park was obtained for the first time, earlier this year. Previously, only Eurasian and smooth-coated otters had been commonly observed in the park.

Admitting that otters don’t get the necessary conservation attention, he said, “Our wildlife management system is such that the flagship species like rhinos, tigers and elephants get the most attention. So, species like otters are neglected.”

Choudhury says there was a time when otter killing was rampant in Manas National Park. “In the 90s, the otter population really dwindled in MNP. It became really difficult to spot otters. But now over the years, their number has increased and otters can be seen in most water bodies,” he said.

Renowned wildlife activist Mubina Akhtar, recounting tales of superstition attached with otters said, “During the early 90s, I was working in the Golaghat area spreading awareness about wildlife. In Behora tea estate, some people came to sell wild animal items at the weekly haat (market). There, parts of leopard, mongoose and otters were sold. People were interested in buying the paw of an otter because they believed that if a fish bone was stuck in the throat of a person while eating, tapping the backside of that person’s head with the paw of an otter would make the bone go away.” Akhtar has been an activist and journalist for three decades and is known for her work in human-elephant conflict and community project for leopard conservation.

She shared that as awareness rose, the practice dwindled. She hasn’t heard of wildlife items being traded in Behora market anymore. However, the trade of otters still continues.

The World Wide Fund for Nature in its report says that otter skins would often be seized in large quantities during raids for tiger and leopard skins. It warns, “There seems to be no attempt at collecting timeline information on otters, and unless the species is consciously monitored, soon enough, there will be very few otters left.”

This article was first published Mongabay.