Liu Wei listened to the explanation of the keeper and observed the environment of the venue.

The stream flowed and turned into a wide pond.

There are natural reeds at the edge of the pond, which are swaying and comfortable.

In the middle of the pond is an island with tree trunks perched across the edge of the island and the streambank, and tree trunks perched on one end of the island and one end in the water.

The trunk retains an intricate set of roots, and the crevices in the roots are like a labyrinth for the otter, and they disappear when you drill into them.

There are otters lying on the trunk of the tree and rubbing itchy, rubbing their mouths and cheeks, rubbing their cheeks and rubbing their stomachs, and then turning over and rubbing their backs, how cool and how to rub, their small eyes are squinting, and they look very comfortable.

There are also otters that run down the water from tree trunks like slides.

It seems that the environment here is really good for them.

And Amamiya Kokoro's attention is on the otter's cute appearance!

The small-clawed otter is the smallest of the thirteen species of otters in the world, with a slender body, a body like a long gourd, a round belly and a round head, a short snout, and a long white beard, which looks very cute.

Fascinated by staring at the otter playing with its belly exposed: "Kawaii! ”

Several pictures were taken of the otters.

The keeper continued: "In China, there are three species of otters recorded! They are the Eurasian otter, the Asian small-clawed otter and the river otter, of which the Eurasian otter is the most widely distributed, from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to the southeast coast, from the north to the tropical rainforest, they are all found in history.

You can take a look at the comparison chart of several types of otters here. ”

The popular science display board next to it, from top to bottom, the body length and weight of several otters are marked, plus the accompanying pictures, the comparison looks quite intuitive.

These include some of the more obvious features, such as the flat head and rounded tail of the Eurasian otter, while the Asian small-clawed otter has a short round head and a flattened and broad tail.

One tourist asked curiously, "If otters are so common, why have I never seen them, or heard about them?" ”

The keeper smiled, "Then it started a long time ago!" ”

The popular science display boards in the otter exhibition area are strung together in order.

The sign at the entrance of the exhibition area introduces their characteristics, first giving visitors a basic understanding, introducing their history in the middle, and then explaining the reasons for their demise and the threats they are facing.

The keeper walked forward and came to the middle sign, and the visitors followed.

"'The east wind thaws, the stinging insects begin to vibrate, the fish bear the ice, and the otter sacrifices the fish.'" This passage is from the Book of Rites! As early as 2,000 years ago, our ancestors described and recorded otters in the classics.

The earth began to thaw, the ice melted, the fish came up from the bottom of the water, and the otters began to fish, placing them one by one on the shore. In the eyes of the ancients, it looked like an otter was sacrificing, which was a very peculiar behavior.

The otter sacrifices the fish, and then the Yu people enter the Zeliang. jackals sacrifice beasts, and then field hunting; The dove turned into an eagle, and then set up a Ulla; The grass and trees are scattered, and then into the mountains and forests; Insects are not stung, not to fire. No addiction, no eggs, no fetal killing, no demons, no nesting.

Seeing the otter sacrificing fish is a signal to end the winter fishing ban and the fisherman can start fishing. You see, our ancients were actually very powerful, and they understood the truth of sustainable development thousands of years ago. ”

"Wow!"

"Our ancestors are really wise!"

"Taoism talks about the unity of heaven and man, living in harmony with nature, Confucianism talks about compassion, benevolence and forgiveness, and we have this gene in our culture."

Tourists listened with pride in their hearts.

"Because otters are good at fishing, the ancients also domesticated otters to help them catch fish.

It can be said that otters play a very important role in the production and life of our ancients.

In areas where there is written Chinese language, otters are almost ubiquitous, and in the historical documents and local chronicles of ethnic minority areas, otters are also often recorded, so to speak, otters once lived in every corner of this land, and where there is water, there are their figures.

Here is the distribution of an otter in history restored according to ancient books, as well as the county chronicle record of otters on the Linhai side, you can take a look. ”

Tourists rushed over with great interest.

Liu Wei listened to the keeper's explanation, and was also interested in watching the display board to see if there were any otters in his hometown.

The display board uses a piece of green to indicate the distribution range of otters, and with several pictures in a row, you can see that the distribution of otters is still very wide.

The distribution of otters after 2000 is shown in yellow, which suddenly changed from large green patches to scattered patches.

Suddenly shocked: "Why did it drop so much at once?" ”

The breeder's tone was a little heavier: "The otter's fur is smooth, waterproof and warm, and it is considered to be the best quality for making clothing, and because the otter lives near the water, it is considered a pest of the fishery, and it has various medicinal effects, so it has been hunted in ancient times."

However, the impact on them was not so great, until the last century, when otters were hunted in large numbers, which was probably the darkest period they have encountered for tens of thousands of years.

In Hubei, for example, more than 14,000 otters have been killed in 55 years alone, and in Hunan, up to 25,000 otter skins have been recovered a year.

Because of this, our wildlife protection law has been enacted to classify several species of otters as second-class protected animals, but it has not been able to reverse their decline.

The most widespread Eurasian otter has completely disappeared in many provinces, and in some provinces, the population has generally declined by 890 percent, and even as much as 96 to 99 percent. And the river otter has not been heard from for decades.

It can be said that with the exception of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which has a relatively low population density and low utilization of natural resources, the otter is endangered throughout eastern and southern China, with only a few sporadic distributions.

The existence of otters that can be found in our coastal waters is actually a rare and valuable thing. ”

The tourists suddenly fell silent, not very comfortable, and some even sighed.

"Although the hunting of otters has decreased, their populations have not yet recovered and they still face many threats," the keeper said. For example, water pollution, the reduction of prey due to fisheries, the construction of dams.

Water pollution is probably the biggest problem they face!

Otters are an indicator species, and they cannot survive in places with poor water quality.

In polluted water, various heavy metals are enriched in prey such as fish and shrimp, which can have adverse effects on otters.

In the last century, otters in many parts of Europe were devastated by water pollution caused by the large-scale use of pesticides containing DDT, and it was not until the ban on these pesticides that populations began to recover. ”