JAIPUR: A smooth-coated otter spotted playing with a polythene inside the National Chambal Sanctuary has highlighted how plastic litter is blighting the lives of wild animals in the waterways.
The animals, which earlier became extinct at Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, are facing a serious threat at Chambal due to dumping of waste by humans into their freshwater habitat.
Chambal had seen a healthy population of otters in a 25-km stretch of the river between Jawahar Sagar Dam and Kota Barrage. Environmentalists , however, claimed otter population was under threat because of the impact of human population and the flow of harmful chemicals and plastic into the river.
Otters live in family groups of a male, a female and set of cubs. Banwari Yaduvanshi, nature lover and boat operator who clicked the photographs said, “Between the 27-km area of Kota Barrage and Jawahar Sagar downstream, there were 3-4 families. However, at present only one family having five adults and two cubs can be recorded. One male of this family also died two months ago. A conservation plan to save these endangered species should be drawn.”
Otters act as a strong biological indicator of the health of river and wetlands and its population decline is a sign of degraded habitat. A forest staff said fish species in the river have been affected because of pollution, impacting the otters that depend on fish for their meals. “After finding that the population of otters is declining fast, in 2014 the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reviewed its status and listed it in the ‘Red List’ as vulnerable. About 28 nullahs and hundreds of other minor tributaries from the 13 lakh population of Kota city pour extremely polluted water and plastic waste into the Chambal river. This should be immediately stopped to save these creatures.”
Experts claimed as many domestic and international tourists come to Chambal for otter sighting, the forest department should soon implement marine wildlife conservation scheme to save the habitat.
“Other than India, the otters are found in in Java, Sumatra and Borneo. It also inhabits rivers in north and south-western China, Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan. Rajasthan provide rare sighting and forest should take advantage of the fact,” said a forest official.
