The First Records of Hairy-nosed Otter Lutra sumatrana from Cambodia with Notes on the National Status of Three Other Otter Species.

8 Pages·2003·0.51 MB·English

by  Poole, C M

NAT. HIST. BULし SIAMS町.51(2): 273-280，2 003
The First Records of Hairy-nosed Otter LuT・llSUmaT・llnafrom Cambodia
with Notes on the National Status of Three Other Otter Species
百lisn'Ote d'Ocuments，wi th ph'Ot'Ographs，w hat is kn'Own 'Oft he cu町'entstatus 'Of'O tters
in Camb'Odia. Of particul釘 n'Ote脱出efirst rec'Ords 'Oft he little kn'Own Hairy-n'Osed Otter
Lutra sumatrana. F'Our species 'Of'O tter; Ha廿y-n'OsedOtter Lutra sumatrana，Eu rasian Otter
Lutra lutra，S m'O'Oth Otter Lutrogale perspicillata and Oriental Small-clawed Otter Aonyx
cinerea have been mapped by b'Oth LEKAOUL & McNEELY (1977) and CORBET & HILL
(1992) as 'Occurring泊 Camb'Odia.H'Owever，a s earch 'Oft he w'Orld's maj'Orm useum
c'Ollecti'Ons has血usfar yielded 'Only 'One relevant specimen of L. perspicillata with vague
locality data (Geraldine Ver'On，in liu. t'O JOE WιSTON，20 02)，a nd there appe紅 tobe no
published rec'Ords泊血ehist'Orical literature referring to any 'Oft hese species fr'Om the
c'Oun町 (e.g.DELACOUR，1 940; OSOOOD，19 32). Based on白is，and the review of modern
rec'Ords presented below，th ere n'Ow appear to be only two species 'Ofo tter with defmite
locality records合omCamb'Odia.
Hairy-nosed Otter Lut1・asumatrana
百1ereare no previ'Ous rec'Ords 'Ofth is species企omC加1bodiaand the mapped dis回bution
f'Ort his species from Cambodia (LEKAOUL &M cNEELY，1 977; CORBET &H ILL，1 992)
probably arises企''Omtwo specimen records from s'Outhern and central Vietnam，bo th泊血e
British Museum. One is from Long Xuyen，A n Giang Province，C 'Ochinchina in 1883，a nd
the 'Other is from Hue，τhua百lienHue Province，A nnam in 1927 (百IOMAS，1928). Bel'Ow
1d ocument (with photographs) the frrst f'Our rec'Ords 'OfL . sumatrana fr'Om Cambodia.
Tw'O captive animals were photographed by Frederic Goes in the village 'OfP rek Toal，
Battambang Province 'On1 3 June 1998 (Fig. 1).官1eywere reported to have been caught
・ ・
r田entlyin回psal'Ong the Prek Kantiel (1311'N， 10336'E)，as佐eamthrough也eseasonally
inundated f'Orest and scrub of the Tonle Sap Great Lake，n 'Ow the Prek T'Oal C'Ore Area of
the T'Onle Sap Bi'Osphere Reserve.
A y'Oung captive an加alwas ph'Otographed in Peam Bang village，ne ar Boeng Chhma，
'On白en'Orth・easternsh'Ore of the Tonle Sap Great Lake，K 'Ompong百10mProvince，o n 5
December 1998 (Long Kheng，p ers. comm.，2 002) (Fig. 2)，a nd is reproduced in
DOROS回収oETA L. (1998，p. 71).百isis the rec'Ord misidentified in GOES & HONO
CHAMNAN (2002)，ba sed on Colin P'Oole (pers. c'OmmよasL. perspicillata.
A mounted specimen in May 1999 was identified by the au血'Orin出emuseum at
Phn'Om Tamao Zoo，ne 釘 PhnomPenh (Fig. 3). Unf'Ortunately there紅'eno rec'Ords attached
to佃 y'Of出 .especimens in this collecti'Ona nd it is unclear exactly how long it has been
there. Staff at白ez'O'O claimed白紙 theanimal originated from Mondulkiri Province (the
late Meas Chandam'Ony，pe rs. comm.，1 999)，b ut it was impossible t'O gain any further
inf'Ormation 'Ort o independently verify this.
Received 22 March 2003; accepted 3D ecember 2003.
273
274 C. M. POOLE
F泊ally，al ive animal w邸 photographedon 19 March 2000 by出.eau血orand Mike
Baltzer加awildlife market along Highway No. 4n ear the village of Sre Khlong，Ko mpong
Speu Province (Fig. 4).官邸animalhad reportedly been recently caught locally somewhere
to白ewest，bu t it was also impossible to independently verify出is.
In addition LONG (2000) also mentions without details one record企oman unsp氏自ed
Cambodian market. Thes ource of也iswas an an加alseen，b ut not photographed，b y
Barney Long泊PhnomPenh加January2000. No information could be gathered as to its
origin (Barney Long，in litt.，20 03).
There are no records of L. sumatrana泊re回:otsurveys of animals held in zoo collections
in Cambodia (Dave W 'e，pers. comm.，20 00; 00回， 2000)
釘
Little seems to be known about the habitat requirements of L. sumatrana (SIV ASO'百日
&Bu即iANUDD別， 1994).However，a ll recent records thus far traced originate合omlowland
inundated forests areas加mainlandSoutheast Asia，pe at swamp forest泊peninsul紅百聞land
(KANCHANASAKA，20 00) and Malaysia (S回AS百AN，1994，1 995)，an d Melaleuca swamp
forest泊 southemVietnam (NGUY町 XUANDANG ETA L.，2 001).
Of the four records from Cambodia，th e two with specific locality data both originate
from白eseasonally flooded forest and scrub of the Tonle Sap Great Lake. However，th e
fourth record could have orig泊a旬dfrom an area of Melaleuca swamp forest north and
west of Sre Ambel，K oh Kong Province，to 白ewest of the market where it was found.
Inundated forest of these types泊 Cambodiais now largely res凶.ctedto the Tonle Sap
Oreat Lake and small isolated areas泊恥 Mekongfloodplain，w i出版 additionof some
co節句1are部 ofMelaleuca.
Eurasian Otter Luh・'aluh・a
Despite the range illus回tedin CORBET & I也ム(1992)，there is as yet no record of
L.lutra 合omCambodia. However，at tention should be drawn to the potential identification
confusion between L. lutra and L. perspicillata.
Ar ecent claim of L. lutra，針。mPhnom (Mount) Samkos泊theCardamom Mountains
加 May2000 (DALTRY & MOMBERG，2 000，p. 208) w儲 basedon an identification from
tracks following KRUUKE TA L. (1993) (D札官y& MOMBERG，2 000，p. 59，a nd Barney
Long，pe rs. comm. to JOE WιSTON，2 001). Variability泊回.ckswi血inotter species
，
makes the identification of any species by凶 .cksalone difficult (REUTHER EI' AL.，2 000，
pp.133-134). Fu曲 ermore，at the time of KR叩 KETA L. (1993) there was no available
information on L. sumatrana and therefore the paper did not consider白紙species.Current
information now suggests血at回 .cksof L. sumatrana and Lutra lutra紅'eprobably
indistinguishable，a nd therefore all such r，民ords，p紅ticul釘Iy泊 areasof possible range
overlap ebest regdedas unidentified (Budsabong Kanchanasaka & Claus Reuther
，紅 釘 ，
pers. comm.，2 002).
Smooth Otter Luh・'ogaleperspicillata
官tisis血emost f詑quentlyrecorded otter species in Cambodian markets or zoo
collections，w ith data collected for ad atabase of animals held in captivity泊 Cambodia
showing eight records of L. perspicillata泊 twodifferent ∞llections (Dave Ware，in litt.，
2000).百lereis also one spec凶en合om1960 held泊血eMNHN，Pa ris，la belled “Indochine/
C nbodge"(Oeraldine Veron，in litt. to JOE WALSTON，20 02). OSGOOD (1932)，ba sed on
創
THE FIRST RECORDS OF HAIRY-NOSED 0γfER LUTRA SUMMATRANA 275
Figure 1. Captive L/I[ra SlIl1lallど1IIa，p，巴k
Toal( Tonl巴SapGreatL ak巴)，
BattarnbangP rovince，1 3J un巴
1998.P hotograph:F rederic
Goes.
Figure 2. Captive Llllra SlIl1lalral/a，
Pearn Bang， near Boeng
Chhrna (Tonle Sap Great
Lake)，K ornpongT horn Prov-
II'C巴，5 Decernber1 998.P ho-
tograph:L ong Kh巴ng.
276 C. M. POOLE
Figure3 . Mount巴lcsp巴Clm巴nof LUlra SUl1Ialrana，P hnoll1 Tall1ao Zoo，n earP hnoll1 P巴nh.Origin unknown
Photograph: Colin Poole，M ay 1999
Figure4 . Captiv巴LulraSlIl71alrctlla，S re Khlong，K ompong Speu Province，1 9M arch2 000.O rigin unknown
Photograph: Colin Poole.
TI-IEF IRSTR ECORDS0 10 HAIRY-NOSED m寸ERWTRA SUMMATRANA 277
Figure5. Singlec apitve AOlI.yλ.c illerea (irght)w ith LlIlrogale perspiιillala，s ayab Zoo，P I巴yVengP rovince，
5J un 1999.Oirgin unknown.Ph otograph: Colin Poole
巴
theo ccun巴nc巴ofth巴speciesin Laos，s tated thatit “app巴arstob et he1 l10stc Oll1ll1ono tt巴r
oft heM ekong"
Th巴onlydocument巴dfi巴Idsightingw hich probablyr ef巴，rstot hiss pecies，i sa r ecord
of twoa nimalso bservedd uringt h巴ratJlys巴asonont he0 PI巴yhe，KohN h巴kDistrict，
Mondulkiri Provinc巴(120 56'N，1 0T 27'E) on 12J un巴2000(T1MM1NS & OuR ATANAK，
2001). The0 Preyh巴isav erys ma llseasonallyd ryt ributary，in thel evello wlandso f th巴
TonleS repok，a l arg巴lowlandriver. Theo bs巴rv巴rsreported that“thet alisa ppear巴dquit巴
dorso-v巴ntrallyf1att巴n巴d"，ac haracteristico f thiss pecies，a nd th巴yalsot ook tracktr acings
forf uturec onfirmationo ft hei dentificaiton( TIMMINS & Ou RATANAK，2 001).
Th巴rear巴twootherr ecent records with locailty information.T hef irstw as at ame
animalp hotographedi n thet owno f Kraitei n May 2002，a nd 1巴portedlycaughtlo callya s
ay oung animalf rom the M巴kongRiv巴rthree yearsp l巴viously(lsabelB easley， pers.
comm.，2 002). Th巴secondwas an animalca ught byl ocalhu nt巴rsin inundat巴dforestsc rub
n巴arKbalT ol village south oft heP rekT oalC OI巴・ Area oft heT onl巴 Sap Biosphere
R巴serv巴inmid 2002. It wass ubsequ巴ntlysold toa l ocalz oo in Si巴mR巴apwher巴ltwas
photograph巴d(Sun Visal& FredericG oes，p 巴rs.comm.，2 002). Thisi sth ef irstpr oof that
twos pecies of otterc oexist at onesi tinCambodia
巴
Oriental Small-clawed OUerA onyx cinereα
Thisi st heo nly othero tters peci巴sfound in recent surv巴ysof zoo coll巴citonsin
Cambodia，w ith onef ound byt hea uthora nd Dave Ware，h eld with L. perspicillata，in
Bayab Zoo，P r巴yVengP rovinc巴， on5 J un巴1999(Fig. 5).ln addition，M ART1N& PH1PPS
(1996) report巴dat a liof thiss pecies '1orsa lei n aP hnom Penh mark巴tbut gav巴nod巴talis
as toh ow thisw as identified.T her巴arenof ield records
278 C. M. POOLE
Discussion
Most recent Cambodian otter reordsoriginate from market or captivity data and few
氾
have specific locality data. However，th e lack of wi1dlife住ade泊toCambodia and the large
volume of trade out of the coun町 duringthe period under discussion (Sun Hean，pe rs.
comm.，20 00)，le ads one to believe that there is no reason to suspect any of these records
to have originated from outside the coun釘y.
Otters appear to have been heavi1ye xploited in Cambodia for ac onsiderable period.
In the early 1960's白eywere described in Preah Vihe紅Provinceas“probably very
common judging by the numbers of skins for sale" (MILTON，19 64). L 'getraps，st ated by
紅
local people to be for otters，w ere seen ne PrekToal in 1997/8 (Wayne Gum，p ers.
紅
comm.，2 001). Otter skins紅e児gularlyseen for sale for medicinal pu中osesin local
markets in Phnom Penh and major prov泊cialtowns. Traditional Cambodian medicine，
although not Chinese medicine (Endi Zh g，pers. comm.，20 02)，ap parently uses the skin
佃
in wine to assist women during pregnancy and/or childbirth. BAIRD (1993) recorded that
in 1992 villagers and fores町 officialsin southem Attapeu Province，L ao PDR，ne ar血e
Cambodian border，re ported that ag roup of Cambodians travelled up the Sekong River
into Lao PDRi n search of otter skins，an d offered to buy whatever otter skins the villagers
could supply.百lecapture and trade for local medicinal use in coun位Yis出egreatest single
threat to the continued survival of otter populations in Cambodia.
There is also ar egional trade of otter skins to China，w here they are used as hats for
men and overcoats for ladies (Endi Zhang，in litt.，20 02). A confiscation in August 2001
at Baoshan，Y unnan (probably originating from Myanmar) included 134 pieces of otter
skin (TRAFFIC，2 002). However the effect of耐 son Cambodian otter populations is
unknown and there is no documentation on intemational甘adein otter skins合omCambodia.
τ
'here have been no systematic otter surveys in inundated forest habitats in Cambodia.
Indeed，th e only recent field survey which systematically looked for otter signs was白紙
of百MMINS&M EN SORIYUN (1998)，on the Sesan and Srepok，Ra tanakiri and Stung Treng
Provinces in May-June 1998. In 200 km of riverine survey only one sighting of
佃
unidentified animal was made and no otter signs were found.官lIsis su叩rising，as based
on results of simi1ar surveys in Laos on rivers with as imi1ar magnitude of human use，ot ter
signs would have been expected (DUCKWORTH，1 997).
Ther elative lack of field records from habitats where otters should be expected to be
present and the domestic market demand for skins for medicinal use，m eans由atthe
remaining populations of all otter species occuπing in Cambodia are of urgent conservation
concem. Further，ot ter-specific，su rvey work urgently needs to be carried out to甘yand
identify remaining areas of importance，in order that appropriate conservation measures
can then be initiated. Ofg reatest priority for such surveys ar芭frrstly出eseasonally inundated
forest and scrub around the Tonle Sap Great Lake，a nd secondly，t he lowland，c oastal
rivers and areas of Melaleuca swamp forest，n orth and west of Sre Ambel，K oh Kong
Province.百leformer，an d potentially the latter，m ay hold globally significant populations
of L. sumatrana.
THE FIRST RECORDS OF HAIRY-NOSED 0甘'ERLUT九，4SUMMATRANA 279
Acknowledgments. 1t hank Will Duckworth for encouraging met o write白is，and 1t hank
him，R ob Timmins and Joe Walston for reviewing and commenting on it. Isabel Beasley，
Mike Baltzer，F rederic Goes，W ayne Gum，B usdabong Kanchanasaka，B arney Long，L ong
Kheng，C laus Reuther，H iroshi Sas北i，Tony Sebastian，S un Hean，S un Visal，D ave Ware
and Endi Zhang provided valuable information and discussion.
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c.
M. Poole
Wildlife Conservation Society Cambodia 酌ogram
PO Box 1620
Phnom Penh，C ambodia.
cDoole{a) wcs.orl!