Welcome to Otterchat

A meeting place for otter lovers and anyone who is interested in otters.

Please read the About section and enjoy your time here!

There are 31 recent visitors.

Create a topic

Pinned topics

All topics

List Catalog Search
How do otters handle the heat?
182 kb jpg
With all that dense fur you might think otters will overheat quickly in the summer heat wave. What do otters do to cool off?
3 replies hidden. Show all

> Also, these rocks look kinda like an otter
You know, what makes this even funnier? Lotta and Otis had babies, their names are Piper and Pebble!


There's actually an otter hiding behind a leaf in this photo, might take you a while to find it
Melting... I need some hot otter-wisdom tips

Try a moist towel/shirt. Evaporating Water will cool you down.
2466 kb JPG

...also stay well hydrated, get rest (like an otter) and make sure to also replenish electrolytes you lost by sweating.
And if possible: get in the water!
do otters smoke cigarettes?
hello, i was wondering if i can get otters addicted to cigarettes and then teach them to go through my 250-step program so i can have them pay me $19.99 per step? is this possible? this feels like the right place to ask.
they have no money :(
>teach otter to work
>otter have job
>otter now have money
>teach otter to smoke
>otter get addicted
>otter pay for your 250-step program
>?
>PROFIT
Simple as anon.
When the tobacco industry tried getting them hooked in the '70s they found that they kept going into water, putting out their cigarettes before they got very far into them. Maybe the first step is to invent water-proof tobacco products?
OTTERS DO NOT SMOKE CIGARETTES OR DRINK OR DO DRUGS OR BAD UNHEALTHY THINGS LIKE THAT. THEY LIKE PLAYING IN THE GRASS N SWIMMING AROUND N EATIN FISH N THATS THAT
1449 kb png
The Otter Youth Circle is back with the 7th installment of our Otter Webinar series: Hairy-nosed Otters : What We Know, & More Importantly, What We Don’t Know! 🌎🦦
In this installment, we welcome Jason Palmer to share on one of the world's rarest otters - the Hairy-nosed Otter!
Jason is a WAZA International Studbook Keeper and EAZA Species Monitor/European Coordinator for the Asian Small-clawed Otter . Bringing decades of experience in ex situ conservation and husbandry , his talk will explore how our understanding of the Hairy-nosed Otter has evolved, where the species stands today, and why rescue, rehabilitation, and responsible husbandry are becoming increasingly important in the face of the illegal pet trade.
Whether you work with wildlife, in zoos, or simply love otters, this is a session you won't want to miss.
Date: 1 Aug 2026
Time: 1400–1500h (GMT 0) - Please take note of the time zone!
Sign up here: www.tinyurl.com/OYCwebinar (A Zoom link will be sent upon registration.)
1 reply hidden. Show all
Heads up, they changed the date, it's on August 11 now.

... which means i can't join after all cause of work...

Meaning more time for me to spot this post!
Reminder, it's today
It was a pretty interesting talk
I hope that we can learn a lot more about this species soon, especially what makes it so difficult to keep rescued hairy nosed otters healthy in captivity
It was also good to hear about how camera traps help study the distribution of the species
Support Thread
131 kb jpg
Welcome!
This site may still have issues. Please be patient while I figure everything out.
224 replies hidden. Show all

Thanks, Ottmin! I really love this site!

It is a challenge at first, but it's a good one :]
7 kb png
7 kb png
I hope you're all having a good weekend. There's now the option to put an email with your account, so if you ever lose your password you can recover it.
Gonna have a spot of maintenance later tonight

We're back
Otter photos?
1216 kb jpg
Where do you guys find good sources of otter photos (especially for public domain/free ones)?
Flickr is a good one, but I was wondering if you know about any others...
3505 kb jpg
2122 kb jpg
2480 kb jpg
2229 kb jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=otter&title=Special%3AMediaSearch&type=image&haslicense=unrestricted
has good hodge podge. Some historic pics and high quality ones like this snackulating otts
64 kb jpg

Post here when visiting otterchat
509 kb jpg
Welcome!
Please say hello in this thread when you're visiting otterchat.
698 replies hidden. Show all
hi
Hello!
heeeey guyyyys
My oh my! What a delight to see this place still around after all these years! I was sure the site would have been abandoned by now. Truly a testament to otter resolve.
The emotes are lovely~
For a time reference, I made some old "otterchan" banner ideas like this one over in
(Guh. I'm still terrible at the captcha however. )

Welcome back!!
Otterly in love
12120 kb jpg
Otters are cute, but how cute aren't otters in love? ^^
7 replies hidden. Show all
109 kb jpeg
cuter together
2591 kb JPG
2199 kb JPG

Otis loves Lotta, Lotta loves Otis!

cuties

I love your photos. I really wanna make some site banners out of them, or something like that...It'll be fancy

Feel free to do so! I´m sure Lotta and Otis would love that, too!
Global Otter Map
195 kb png
https://otter.chat/map/
A world map of otter conservation activities, projects, NGOs etc. It's still in development as of now. Please try it out and tell me if it works for you or if there's any bugs.
I'd like this to be a complete and up to date overview of all our activities, so this thread is also a place to share suggestions, updates and submissions. If you have anything you'd like to see on the map please post it in this thread and I'll add it!
26 replies hidden. Show all

I love Projeto Lontra!! Wonderful stuff on the Instagram :]

Germany Is Becoming an Otter Paradise Again – Connecting Waterways, Protecting Otters
https://www.otterland.info/
https://www.bfn.de/projektsteckbriefe/deutschland-wieder-otterland

All done
1026 kb pdf
78 kb jpeg
254 kb pdf
Durante los últimos 15 años y antes, hemos estado realizando grandes esfuerzos e intervenciones administrativas y legales en defensa y conservación de las condiciones de desarrollo para Lontra felina en la Región de Valparaíso Chile.
Desde el primer juicio para la Jurisprudencia nacional, en el año 2001,sobre muerte de un Chungungo hasta hoy, son múltiples los casos, algunos se encuentran citados y reunidos para el capítulo sobre marco legal y accion para la conservación de Lontra felina de reciente publicación en Springer.
Informe breve sobre muertes de Lontra felina.
Publicación de un Plan y Método innovativo para monitorear por medio de observación directa, la presencia, población relativa y otras variables.
Catastro regional de madrigueras activas 2014-2026


Hecho
fastest otts
54 kb png
if all the 14 otter species were lined up in a race, who would cross the finish line first? imagine there's a land section and a water section (please consult the bean)
the smooth coated otter's smoothness probably means less air resistance and friction and they're fast predators underwater.
giant otters are bigger so they can go a further distance in one stride. but also they carry more weight
Eurasian otters and North American river otters are pretty athletic with how much they can migrate in a day, though i don't know if it would help them win a race
on the other hand sea otters probably wouldn't do well, being the slowest on land and essentially pure foragers so they have no reason to be super quick anyway
same with Aonyx which mainly chill and eat crabs.
1 reply hidden. Show all
106 kb jpg
and what if the otters could ride bicycles?

you could probably teach an otter to ride a bicycle (though it may not like it at first)
2 kb png

>Eurasian otters and North American river otters are pretty athletic with how much they can migrate in a day, though i don't know if it would help them win a race
I think those two species are probably the best suited for a general race. You're right that giant otters can have large strides, but I think that they generally gain less via large strides compared to the loss of being somewhat slower to move due to size. Meanwhile, something like an Oriental Small Clawed Otter might be the quickest, but not be as fast due to the relatively smaller nature of its strides. European otters and North American River Otters are probably in the sweet spot of body size/stride length to quickness
Of course, the slowest otter would probably be the snail otter

>He has nowhere to go, he's already home

>and what if the otters could ride bicycles?
Depends. Can an otter wear a helmet?
Ottercine
219 kb jpg
Ottercine: Otter Movie Night

What?
A stream event where we meet and watch otters and other things together. Documentaries, short videos, whatever you like - everyone can add something!
When?
On the last Sunday of every month at 8pm UTC.
Where?
Here: https://cytu.be/r/ottercine
263 replies hidden. Show all
Sadly I can't make Ottercine this month :( A friend of mine just got surgery last week and I've been spending all my free time taking care of them. I hope everyone has a great time though!

Aw, all the best to you and your friend.
the month is almost over again! What's on this weekend?

I found some possibilities! Can't wait to see you all there
First is this one about reintroducing otters in America, looks pretty neat. Its older but i find it interesting to hear about how people are doing conservation from an institutional level sometimes and not just individual rescue efforts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7hnjL1TyZs
Second is less otter specific, its about wetlands in Croatia! We have watched a few of these about different countries in Europe and I always enjoy them so it could be fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOvkB-cey-I
This last one is shorter, it looks like an upload of a tv episode? But its about sea otter rescue and rehabilitation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-xZkzLtVMw

Lovely finds, like always!