Wild Facts

Photo by Nicole Duplaix

Hello animal fans!  Today we are going to super size one of my favourite members of the weasel family.  That’s right, I have a favourite weasel!  You may think I am talking about the Wolverine since they are awesome but nope, today I am talking about the Otter.  If you have read the title then you will know we are going to look at the Giant Otter.  Unfortunately we can only find these intriguing animals in South America.

So just how big is the Giant Otter.  Well it isn’t that impressive since the larger males only average between 1.5 m and 1. 8 m (4.9′ – 5.9′) in length.  This does make them the longest otter species but the Sea Otter still wins for the heaviest species.  Just so you know, the giant otter can weigh up to 45.3 kg (100 lbs). So they are big but do they do anything that is interesting?

Well the Giant Otter will occasionally eat small caiman alligators.  Is that interesting? They will also feed on fish, crustaceans and small snakes.  In fact they will eat about 6 to 9 pounds of food each day.  That is quite a bit of food to eat in one day.  What about predators? Luckily the giant otter is at the top of the food chain so they don’t have many predators.  As usual, their largest predator is humans.  Occasionally large cats or anacondas may take down this otter but that is rare.  Giant otters will also run into trouble if they stumble upon an electric eel or a stingray while hunting.  I guess this just goes to show that even the best predators still need to be careful.

Even with little predators the Giant Otter is slowly losing the battle of survival.  Their population is declining due to the destruction of the rain forest, over-fishing, and of course poaching.  All this is happening to an animal that is protected by law. Just imagine what is happening to the animals that don’t have as much legislation backing them.

Well that does it for today.  Have a good one!