Chapter 669: Otters and Fish Offering

Liu Wei listened to the keeper's explanation while observing the exhibit's environment.

The stream flowed into a wide pond.

The pond's edge was lined with natural reeds, swaying gently, creating a comfortable and natural ambiance.

In the middle of the pond was a small island with tree trunks extending from the island to the stream's edge, and some trunks partially submerged in the water.

The trunks retained their intricate roots, creating a maze-like structure for the otters, who could disappear into the gaps.

One otter lay on a trunk, scratching itself. It rubbed its mouth, then its cheeks, and then its belly, rolling over to scratch its back, looking very content with its eyes half-closed.

Another otter slid down a trunk into the water like it was a slide.

It seemed the environment suited them well.

Meanwhile, Yumiko was captivated by the otters' adorable appearance!

The small-clawed otter is the smallest of the thirteen existing otter species, with a slender body resembling a long gourd, a round belly, a round head, a short snout, and long white whiskers, making it look very cute.

She was mesmerized, watching an otter play on its back: "Kawaii!"

She took several photos of the otters.

The keeper continued, "In China, there are records of three otter species: the Eurasian otter, the Asian small-clawed otter, and the hairy-nosed otter. The Eurasian otter is the most widespread, historically found from the Tibetan Plateau to the southeastern coast, from the north to tropical rainforests.

You can see a comparison chart of different otter species here."

The nearby educational board displayed the body lengths and weights of various otter species, along with illustrations, making the comparisons quite intuitive.

It also highlighted some distinct features, such as the Eurasian otter's flat head and round tail, and the Asian small-clawed otter's short, round head and flat, broad tail.

A curious visitor asked, "If otters are so common, why have I never seen them or heard about them in reports?"

The keeper smiled and said, "That takes us back a long time!"

The educational boards in the otter exhibit were arranged in sequence.

The board at the entrance introduced their characteristics, providing visitors with a basic understanding, followed by their history and the threats they face.

The keeper walked to the middle board, with the visitors following.

"'The east wind thaws, hibernating insects awaken, fish surface with ice, and otters offer fish.' This passage is from the 'Book of Rites'! Over two thousand years ago, our ancestors described and recorded otters in classical texts.

As the earth thaws and ice melts, fish rise from the depths, and otters begin fishing, laying the fish on the shore. To the ancients, it looked like the otters were performing a ritual, which was quite a peculiar behavior.

The otters offering fish signaled the end of the winter fishing ban, allowing fishermen to start fishing. You see, our ancestors were quite remarkable, understanding the principles of sustainable development thousands of years ago."

"Wow!"

"Our ancestors were truly wise!"

"Daoism emphasizes harmony between humans and nature, while Confucianism advocates compassion and kindness. These values are ingrained in our culture."

The visitors listened with pride.

"Because otters are skilled at fishing, the ancients also domesticated otters to help them fish.

Otters played a significant role in the production and daily life of our ancestors.

In regions with historical records in Chinese characters, otters were almost ubiquitous. They were frequently mentioned in the historical documents and local chronicles of minority areas, indicating that otters once lived in every corner of this land, wherever there was water.

Here, we have a historical distribution map of otters based on ancient texts, including records from Linhai County about otters. You can take a look."

The visitors eagerly gathered around.

Liu Wei, intrigued by the keeper's explanation, also looked at the board to see if there were otters in his hometown.

The board used green to indicate the historical distribution of otters, showing that they were widely spread.

A comparison chart used yellow to show the distribution of otters after the year 2000, revealing a drastic reduction from vast green areas to a few scattered spots.

He was shocked: "Why did their numbers drop so drastically?"

The keeper's tone became more somber: "Otter fur is smooth, waterproof, and warm, considered top-quality for making clothes. Otters, living by the water, were also seen as pests to fisheries and had various medicinal uses, leading to their hunting in ancient times.

However, the impact wasn't as severe until the last century, when otters faced massive hunting, marking the darkest period in their history.

For example, in Hubei, over 14,000 otters were hunted in 1955 alone, and in Hunan, up to 25,000 otter pelts were collected in a single year.

Due to this, after the establishment of our wildlife protection laws, several otter species were listed as second-class protected animals, but this hasn't reversed their declining trend.

The Eurasian otter, once widespread, has completely disappeared from many provinces. In areas where they still exist, their population has generally declined by 80-90%, and in some places, by as much as 96-99%. The hairy-nosed otter hasn't been seen for decades.

Besides the sparsely populated Tibetan Plateau with low human impact, otters in eastern and southern China are on the brink of extinction, with only a few scattered populations remaining.

Finding otters in Linhai is indeed a rare and precious occurrence."

The visitors fell silent, feeling uneasy, with some even sighing.

The keeper said, "Although hunting otters has decreased, their population hasn't recovered and still faces many threats, such as water pollution, reduced prey due to fisheries, and dam construction.

Water pollution might be their biggest problem!

Otters are an indicator species; they can't survive in poor water quality.

Polluted waters, where heavy metals accumulate in fish and shrimp, negatively affect otters.

In many European regions, otters suffered devastating impacts from water pollution caused by the widespread use of DDT pesticides in the last century. Their populations only began to recover after these pesticides were banned."