Otters are not happy in cages!
By Akemi Kanda
A boom in demand (click here) for otters as pets, inspired by their recent higher profile on TV and in novelty cafes, apparently led to a surge in attempted smuggling of the mammals to Japan last year.
According to Traffic, a nongovernmental organization that monitors illicit trade in wild animals, at least 45 otters intended for smuggling were confiscated in Southeast Asia in 2017, and a majority--32--were headed for Japan.
None of the total of 14 otters confiscated in Southeast Asian countries in 2015 and 2016 were planned to be sold in Japan. But evidence of a black market for the animals in Japan existed in 2016, when seven oriental small-clawed otters smuggled from Thailand were confiscated at Narita Airport.
Tomomi Kitade, director of Traffic Japan, said, “It is possible that Japan’s boom of having otters as pets has led to an illegal trade.”
Four kinds of otters are found in Southeast Asia, three of which, including the oriental small-clawed otter, are designated as endangered species in the “red list” of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources....
