Researchers conducting a study in Odisha’s Chilika Lake have found the presence of a viable, breeding population of Eurasian Otters, a fishing cat in the brackish water lagoon.
Eurasian Otters
- IUCN Status: Near Threatened
- Species in India: Smooth-coated, Asian small-clawed and Eurasian Otters
- Habitat: Smooth-coated — all over India; Asian small-clawed — only in the Himalayan foothills, parts of the Eastern and southern Western Ghats; Eurasian — Western Ghats and Himalayas.
- Diet comprises several small animals, mainly crabs and small fishes.
- Lives in small packs, is mostly nocturnal, but can be diurnal in areas which are less disturbed.
