Latest News

 

2024

It’s the 50th Anniversary of the IUCN SSC Otter Specialist Group!
To celebrate this event we have changed our logos and are planning many different events that will run all of this year – read more here

2023

 

The Otter Youth Circle was created – read more here

2022

15th IUCN/SSC OSG International Otter Congress (September 2022): all the info on the 15th IOC is available here.

GIANT OTTER MANIFESTO (November 2022) – download it here

2021

NEPAL OTTER ACTION PLAN – RESEARCH FOCUS: A new publication from the Himalayan Otter Network, edited by Sanjan Thapa, lays out the basic research and surveys that are needed to provide a scientific foundation for a comprehensive, country-wide plan to conserve otters and their habitat in Nepal. Read it here

The first Eurasian Otter Workshop was held online and was a great success. Find out more here.

2020

IUCN 2020 WORLD CONSERVATION CONGRESS OTTER MOTION (WCC-2020-Res-098)
The OSG submitted a motion to the IUCN World Conservation Congress, pinpointing otter conservation priorities. The motion was adopted by electronic vote and can be read here

In 2020, the OSG performed an in-depth survey among our members and here are the results: 2020 OSG Member Survey

2019

CITES PROPOSAL CoP 17
In 2019, the OSG proposed the transfer of the two Asian otter species (Lutrogale perspicillata and Aonyx cinereus) from Appendix II to Appendix I of the Appendices to CITES based on the criteria in Resolution Conf. 9.24 (Rev. CoP17) – here is the document. The proposal was approved by the parties – read more here

The OSG published a report regarding the IUCN/SSC OSG group. You can read it here

2018

OTTERS IN THE ALPS MANIFESTO
In 2018, the OSG met up in the Italian Alps, together with members and experts of five European countries, to discuss and develop a strategy to expand the recolonisation of otters in the Alpine region. The meeting concluded successfully with the Otters in the Alps Manifesto that you can download here

TRAFFIC REPORTS
Between 2016 and 2018, together with TRAFFIC, we developed various documents focusing on the legal and illegal wildlife otter trade in various areas of Asia. You can read the reports here.

The 2018 OSG Global Otter Conservation Strategy can be downloaded for free, here.

2017

2017 IUCN-SSC OSG Annual Report to SSC 2017 

The OSG We Love Otters! book is online and can be downloaded for free, here. 

2016

TROPICAL ASIAN OTTER MANIFESTO
During the 2016 XIII Otter Congress, held in Singapore, we drafted a manifesto to highlight the wetland loss in Asia, using the otter as a symbol of healthy wetland ecosystems. Download it here