The Seri Tanjung Pinang Otter superfamily
What Otters? There is a lot of misinformation about the otters seen around the coast of the island of Penang. They have been variously described as Sea Otters, Beavers and Sea Lions….both by the press and local passersby who fortunately don’t pretend to be David Attenborough. There are only 13 species of Otters in the world and only three of these are found in South East Asia…namely; Hairy-nosed Otters (I have seen them in Taman Negara), Small-clawed Otters (seen as high as Fraser’s Hill) and the species we have on our shores…the Smooth-coated Otters. Sea Otters are those cute Otters seen around Monterey Bay in the USA and they don’t extend to these parts. The only advantage them being Beavers would be they might gnaw down a few palm oil trees. The local Smooth-coated Otter species should not be identified on the appearance of the pups because they are two-toned and look similar to adult Small-clawed otters with the white chin. There is however a large difference in size ...