‘Vulnerable’ smooth coated otters sighted in Mancherial

Abdul Raheem, a dedicated wildlife photographer from Karimnagar, shared with ‘Telangana Today’ that he discovered a family of nine otters in an irrigation tank while photographing birds on March 22 and 23. He expressed his surprise at spotting the otters in the district’s landscape.

Mancherial: Smooth coated otters (Lutrogale perspicillata) were sighted at an irrigation tank near Patha Kommugudem in Luxettipet mandal recently, cheering forest officials. Otters are classified as ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Abdul Raheem, a passionate wildlife photographer from Karimnagar told ‘Telangana Today’ that he spotted a family of nine otters in the irrigation tank when he was taking photographs of birds on March 22 and 23. He said that he was surprised to find the otters in the landscape of the district.

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Forest officials said that the sighting of the carnivorous mammals was a good sign from the perspective of the district’s fresh water ecosystem. They stated that the presence of the otters indicated the rich of biodiversity of the region. They added that steps would be taken to conserve the animal. They urged locals not to harm the otters if spotted at a water body.

Earlier, the otters were discovered in Thalamadugu in Jannaram mandal in 2023, Hyderabad in 2020 and carcass in Nalgonda in 2020. They are facing threat from humans for consuming fish in irrigation tanks. The otters typically feed on 10-15 kilograms of fish per day.
A software engineer by profession, Raheem was founder of Karimnagar Birding Community.