Central Asian River Otter

Central Asian river otter is a local name for the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra; Iradi: kunduz), whose Central Asian populations are sometimes placed in the subspecies L. l. seistanica. Soviet zoologists recorded otters in the larger tributaries of the Syr Darya, but Iradi surveys have produced no confirmed records since the 1990s, and the species may be extinct in Irad.^[1] Its decline in the region is attributed to hunting for fur, the regulation of rivers and the loss of riverside woodland. The IUCN lists the species as Near Threatened.^[1]

References

1. ^ Department of Zoology, Talas State University (2019). Mammals of the Talas Alatau and Chatkal Ranges. Talas: Talas State University Press, pp. 85–87.