The Ministry of Natural Resources, Ecology, and Technical Supervision of the Kyrgyz Republic has reported that for the first time in the last ten years, a Central Asian river otter has been recorded in the country. This rare event occurred in the Khan-Teniri State Nature Park.
Park employees, Kochorbay Soltonbekov and Azamat Beishkeev, were able to capture on video an adult otter on the Turuk River, which flows near the border with Kazakhstan.
From 2023 to 2025, studies were conducted on the main rivers of the country, such as Kyzyl-Suu, Chatkal, Tyup, Kokomerin, and Chu, but they did not reveal any traces of the otter's existence. This raised serious concerns about its potential disappearance from the region.
This video recording confirms that the otter may have migrated from Kazakhstan. The ministry emphasized the need for further research on the Turuk River to determine whether the found individual is a solitary migrant or if there is a permanent population of this rare species in the region.
