Lutra lutra ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

Jo, Yeong-Seok, Baccus, John T. & Koprowski, John L., 2018, Mammals of Korea: a review of their taxonomy, distribution and conservation status, Zootaxa 4522 (1), pp. 1-216 : 68

Lutra lutra ( Linnaeus, 1758) —Eurasian Otter

Mustela lutra Linnaeus, 1758 p.45 ; Type locality- Uppsala, Sweden .

Lutra lutra lutra: Kishida & Mori, 1931 p.380 ; Kuroda, 1938 p.24; Won, 1967 p.98; Won, 1968 p.303; Yoon, 1992 p.111.

L. lutra: Won, 1958 p.437 ; Won, 1968 p.302; Han, 1994 p.46; Won & Smith, 1999 p.18; Oh, 2004a p.183.

Range: The distribution of L. lutra ranges over most of the Korean Peninsula and adjacent coastal islands with fresh water, except Jeju and Ulleung islands ( Jo et al. 2017c; Fig. 42 ). Although the first otter on Jeju Island was reported on 10 January 2018, we did not include Eurasian otter habitat on Jeju Island. Since one female otter was road-killed at a gas station in an urban area without a natural aquatic system, we assumed that the female otter accidentally arrived on a fish truck at a nearby supermarket. The species inhabits some remote islands such as Heuksan Island and re-occurred on Tsushima Island (50 km from the Korean Peninsula) Japan in 2017 after its extirpation in the 1980s.

Remarks: One subspecies, L. l. lutra , is thought to inhabit the Korean Peninsula ( Yoon 1992).

Conservation status: Both the South and North Korean governments designated Lutra lutra as a Natural Monument. Also, the Ministry of Environment in South Korea recognized the Eurasian otter as an Endangered Species in 1998. Both the North and South Korean Red Data books list L. lutra as a ‘Vulnerable’ species (MAB National Committee of DPR Korea 2002; NIBR 2012). CITES lists L. lutra on Appendix I.

Figures

FIGURE 42. Range map of Lutra lutra in Korea.