The species I chose for my literature review is the North American river otter, or Lontra canadensis. They are primarily found in Canada and the United States, except the Southwest, and can also be found in portions of Mexico in the Rio Grande. They can be found in any water habitat, namely rivers, lakes, and marshes.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, river otters were highly sought after for their coats and were hunted to extinction in over 20 states. Luckily, many states are tirelessly working to bring the river otter populations back and they are beginning to thrive again. But just because the North American river otter is no longer extinct does not mean the species is in the clear. They are still threatened in many parts of the Americas because of water pollution, climate change and habitat destruction, lack of food, and illegal hunting.
Pollution is actually the main threat to the North American river otter. When cities, factories, and farms create waste, pollution, and chemicals, that runoff can make its way into the lakes, rivers, and oceans poisoning the otters living there. One big source of water pollution is mining. To remove gold from mud, gold miners use mercury. The gold and mercury is then heated to burn off the non-biodegradable mercury which is released into the air and eventually falls on land and is washed into the
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One big problem is overfishing. Overfishing actually began to cause problems as early as the 1800’s when people started hunting whales for blubber, but it has recently become catastrophic with the extinction of many fish species. With fishing becoming more and more popular in this day and age, the availability of fish for the river otters is declining rapidly. Another reason otters can’t get enough food is because of inland dams. Dams cut off fish migration routes preventing the otters to get to their