The giant otter is native only to the Amazon, Orinoco, and La Plata river systems in South America. The Giant Otter features a very long body, similar to that of a weasel. Between 1950 – 1970, 20,000 otter pelts were exported from Peru alone. Check this one out: Giant otter with fish. The dry season range size analysis for the three Giant Otter groups in Ecuador found areas between 0.45 and 2.79 square kilometers. Main Characteristics Giant Otters are the largest mustelid and they are similar to a very large river otter. The giant otter is the longest of the otter species but shares a similar weight with the sea otter. For that reason they are often mistaken for another type of animal. Throughout South America is where you will find the Giant Otter. Many people find this particular Otter to be different in size and shape from others. Giant otters … They are also downright scary-looking. An average giant otter will weigh between 22 and 32kg (49-71lbs). Male giant otters can attain a length of 1.5-1.7m (4.9-5.6ft). They are hunted for their water resistant fur and for their meat. Their long tail may add as much as 70cm (28in) to this body length. The trade in giant otter fur was banned in 1973, but they are still under threat. Each otter has a unique speckled brown and cream throat patch which renders easy visual identification of individuals. They have a body length between 1 and 1.4 m (3.25 - 4.5 ft), a tail length between 45 and 65 cms (18 - 26 inches) and they weigh between 22 and 32 Kgs (49 - 71 lbs). Otters range in size from 3 kg (6.6 pounds) in the Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus, formerly Amblonyx cinereus) to 26 kg (57 pounds) in the giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) and 45 kg (99 pounds) in the sea otter (Enhydra lutris). At 5.6 feet (1.7 meters), they are the biggest otters in the world and the longest members of the weasel family. They do everything together and help each other to hunt food. Logging and farming destroy giant otter breeding sites, and mining poisons the rivers where they live with mercury. Here’s why. In South America, the giant otter resides among hundreds of hungry caimans (a type of crocodilian related to alligators) without any issue. monspesulanus was a leopard-size (about 65 kg) relative of … Distribution. Giant otters live in small family groups of 3-10 animals. Two of them were gigantic: Sivaonyx hendeyi was an otter the size of a wolf (around 40 kg) and Plesiogulo aff. They dwell in flooded forests, slow moving rivers, streams, lakes and swamps. Females are smaller at 1-1.5m (3.3-4.9ft). Giant River Otter At more than twice the length of the North American river otter, the giant river otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) is quite a sight.A skilled hunter and apex predator, the giant river otter is also very much a family-oriented creature, living in large and often noisy groups along the river banks of the Amazon and its tributaries. 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