Otter - Beaver

Otter (Kunduz).

It lives in and near water. This is a large animal with a long, flexible, streamlined body. The fur is dark brown on top and light, silvery underneath. The guard hairs are coarse, while the underfur is very dense and soft. The head is flattened, almost merging with the body, which ends in a long, muscular tail. The legs are short and equipped with well-developed webbing. The body length is 55–95 cm, the tail length is 26–55 cm, and the weight is 6–10 kg.

Once, the otter inhabited all the major rivers of Kyrgyzstan. As recently as the early last century, it was found in the Naryn, Chu, Tyup, Zhergalan, Kyzyl-Suu rivers and their tributaries. The otter prefers rivers with pools, with non-freezing rapids in winter, with undercut banks heavily cluttered with debris, where there are many reliable shelters and convenient places for burrowing, the entrances to which open underwater. The otter also makes its den in caves, and sometimes, like a nest, in thickets near the water.

The otter is listed in the Red Book of Kyrgyzstan.

Red Book