Cristina Calvo-Fernandez, Elisa L. Sorribes, Jesús Garrido‐Moreno, B. Martín-Maldonado
{"title":"Cannibalism in Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra)","authors":"Cristina Calvo-Fernandez, Elisa L. Sorribes, Jesús Garrido‐Moreno, B. Martín-Maldonado","doi":"10.1002/rra.4323","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The Eurasian otter, Lutra lutra, faced adversity in Europe in the 1950s and 1960s due to hunting, declining fish populations and the American mink invasion. Slow recovery since the 1970s led to a ‘Near Threatened’ in the IUCN Red List status, but recent pollution, fishing pressure and habitat loss caused slight population declines. Otters, known for aquatic habits, are mainly piscivorous and exhibit solitaire or social behaviours. Infanticide with parent‐offspring cannibalism has been previously reported in otter species, but although cannibalism has been suggested, it has not been documented before. This study presents the first documented case of cannibalism among free‐living Eurasian otters observed in northern Norway. Some authors described cannibalism as an opportunistic resource‐efficient behaviour in several mammal species, offering benefits like weight gain and reduced competition, challenging the view of adverse health effects. Factors leading to otter cannibalism include ecological changes, resource competition with other species and global warming and overfishing practices contributing to increased otter competition. Further studies will be vital to answering intriguing questions about the implications of cannibalism for otter conservation.","PeriodicalId":21513,"journal":{"name":"River Research and Applications","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"River Research and Applications","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4323","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The Eurasian otter, Lutra lutra, faced adversity in Europe in the 1950s and 1960s due to hunting, declining fish populations and the American mink invasion. Slow recovery since the 1970s led to a ‘Near Threatened’ in the IUCN Red List status, but recent pollution, fishing pressure and habitat loss caused slight population declines. Otters, known for aquatic habits, are mainly piscivorous and exhibit solitaire or social behaviours. Infanticide with parent‐offspring cannibalism has been previously reported in otter species, but although cannibalism has been suggested, it has not been documented before. This study presents the first documented case of cannibalism among free‐living Eurasian otters observed in northern Norway. Some authors described cannibalism as an opportunistic resource‐efficient behaviour in several mammal species, offering benefits like weight gain and reduced competition, challenging the view of adverse health effects. Factors leading to otter cannibalism include ecological changes, resource competition with other species and global warming and overfishing practices contributing to increased otter competition. Further studies will be vital to answering intriguing questions about the implications of cannibalism for otter conservation.
期刊介绍:
River Research and Applications , previously published as Regulated Rivers: Research and Management (1987-2001), is an international journal dedicated to the promotion of basic and applied scientific research on rivers. The journal publishes original scientific and technical papers on biological, ecological, geomorphological, hydrological, engineering and geographical aspects related to rivers in both the developed and developing world. Papers showing how basic studies and new science can be of use in applied problems associated with river management, regulation and restoration are encouraged as is interdisciplinary research concerned directly or indirectly with river management problems.