Otters are considered the “ambassadors of the wetlands”. Their presence is the best indicator of the health of the wetland’s ecosystem. However, rampant poaching and habitat destruction threaten the future of otters in India.

In India, wetlands are classified as “wasteland” and drained for conversion to agricultural or urban use. Loss of habitat, pollution and heavy fishing pressure have exterminated otters from most areas. In other areas they have been completely wiped out due to poaching. As a result, most otter populations are now confined to protected areas.

WPSI started investigating the otter pelt trade when we realised that it was closely linked to the illegal trade in tiger and leopard parts. Otter pelts account for 20% to 30% of wild animal skins seized in northern India. In 2000 alone, WPSI has records of 326 otter skins seized in sites as far apart as Delhi, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. Traders active in these areas smuggle the pelts out of India, mainly to China.

WPSI investigates the illegal otter trade in India in order to expose and then apprehend the illegal network involved. We also spread awareness of the problem. A documentary film “…And Then There Were None”, made by Syed Fayaz of RGB Films, supported by the British High Commission’s Devolved Environmental Project Fund (EPF), was screened in Delhi on 5 December 2003. Copies of the film and information on the illegal otter skin trade have been sent to 35 training institutes for forest officers. Fieldwork is currently being carried out at various locations in north, northeast and southern India, which are known to be centres of illegal otter poaching and trade in skins.