Once Feared Locally Extinct, The Giant River Otter Appears in Argentina
Good news! The giant river otter has been spotted for the first time in Argentina since the 1980s. Feared to be locally extinct due to habitat loss and over-hunting, the otter popped up on the Bermejo River in the Chaco province.
The giant river otter are considered to be endangered globally, so the reappearance in Argentina certainly came as a surprise to many. The closest known population is in the Paraguayan Pantanal which could be connected to the Bermejo River by over 600 miles. The area where the otter was spotted was in the Impenetrable national park – a conservation area created in 2014 by Rewilding Argentina and Tompkins Conservation. Tompkins was established by Kristine Tompkins and her late husband Doug using proceeds from their ownership of The North Face, Esprit, and Patagonia, they have helped protect 14.5 million acres of land in Chile and Argentina. Impenetrable national park is over 316,000 acres alone.
Source: The Guardian
