Eurasian otter
Lutra lutra
A semiaquatic mustelid with a long dark-brown body, a flat head, a thick tapering tail, and webbed feet. It is a resident native species in Georgia.
At a glance
Key facts in one look
Diet
Fish / amphibians
Status in Georgia
Year-round
Size
59–90 cm
Habitat
River / lake
Family
Mustelidae
Conservation
NT / VU
Human interaction: It has no venom. It can bite if handled. Do not feed it or pick it up. Conflict at fish ponds is real; the species is protected and killing or trapping it is illegal. Any wild mammal can theoretically carry rabies; in Georgian literature the main sources named are fox, jackal, wolf, and dog, not this species.
Overview
What is Eurasian otter
The Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) is a mammal in the weasel family (Mustelidae) and a resident native species in Georgia. IUCN lists Georgia in the native range. It has no venom. The main human risk is a bite if it is handled, not poison. Globally it is Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. On Georgia’s 2014 Red List it is Vulnerable. At species level, head–body length is about 59–90 cm and the tail 35–47 cm.
Last updated
Gallery
Eurasian otter in photos
Photo: Erik Christensen
Photo: Tomasz Baranowski
Lelystad ·
Photo: José Ibañez
Alto Tajo ·
Photo: J Hokkanen
Puurijärvi ·
Photo: Huges4981
Identification
How to identify Eurasian otter
A semiaquatic dark-brown mustelid with a flat head, a thick tapering tail, and webbed feet. It is resident in Georgia.
- 01
At species level, head–body length is about 60–90 cm in males and 59–70 cm in females; tail 35–47 cm; mass 5.5–11.4 kg in males and 3.4–7.6 kg in females (Hung and Law, citing Conroy). Males are usually larger. There is no separate measured Georgian series on this page. The head is broad and flat, the whiskers long, the ears small and rounded, the legs short, the feet webbed, and the tail thick at the base and cone-shaped.
- 02
The coat is dense and water-resistant. The back is dark brown, almost black when wet; the underside is paler. The throat may show a light patch. In water, often only the head and a low back line are visible.
- 03
There is no other otter in Georgia. American mink (Neogale vison / Mustela vison) is listed among South Caucasian mustelids by Gorgadze 2004; this atlas has no mink page, and a confirmed Georgian range is not mapped here. The otter is much larger, with a thick tapering tail. The least weasel is terrestrial, with head–body about 13–26 cm. The Caucasian badger is heavy, with a striped head, and does not swim like an otter. A dog in the water can be confused at a distance; an otter’s tail is thick at the base and tapers evenly.
- 04
Signs often appear before the animal: five-toed webbed tracks in bank mud; spraint on rocks with fish scales; slides into the water. It is not venomous. Do not handle it.
Biology
Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation
Habitat and range
In Georgia look for it on the banks of rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and fish ponds where there is cover and prey. In Gorgadze’s 2012–2013 national survey, signs were found at 245 of 631 sites (39%). Sites were 90% freshwater, 8% lake/reservoir, and 2% sea coast. Positive rate was highest at lakes and reservoirs (75%), 36% in freshwater, and 18% of 11 coastal sites. Occurrence declined with altitude. Historical literature and the South Caucasus biodiversity map give about 2,800 m in Georgia; that figure is not a separate measured belt on this page. Globally IUCN gives 0–4,120 m. This page does not map administrative regions. Named Georgian localities include the Alazani in eastern Georgia, 2006–2007, Gorgadze spraint study (about 41.65°N, 46.12°E); the Bakhvistskali in Ozurgeti Municipality near Ukanava, 530–1,400 m, August– September 2022, 55 activity points, mostly tracks (Kerdikoshvili, a hydropower study, not a peer-reviewed paper); and Borjomi Gorge and the Kintrishi as recent sightings on the South Caucasus map. Sources disagree on Lagodekhi: Gorgadze’s protected-area baseline found no signs, while the later map lists a recent record. The same baseline also found no signs in Vashlovani and Borjomi-Kharagauli. Do not assume even density across Georgia.
Diet
On the Alazani, Gorgadze analysed 791 spraints in 2006–2007. In the cold season (November–March) fish occurred in 50% of spraints and amphibians in 30%; in the warm season (April–October) amphibians were 36% and fish 24%. Reptiles were about 12–13% in both seasons — only grass snake (Natrix natrix) and dice snake (Natrix tessellata). Amphibians were frogs only, mainly marsh frog (then Rana ridibunda; in this atlas Pelophylax ridibundus). Among fish, crucian carp and common carp dominated; most individuals were under 20 cm. Rodents (mice, muskrat), birds, insects, molluscs, and crayfish were minor. That is one Alazani stretch with fish ponds, not a country-wide menu. On the Bakhvistskali the same hydropower study describes a poor prey base; brown trout is named.
Behavior
In freshwater it is often more active at night and at dusk than by day; it can still be seen in daylight where disturbance is low. It does not hibernate. The den is a holt: bank roots, a cavity, rocks, or a dug tunnel, sometimes with an underwater entrance. It marks with spraint on rocks, bridges, or logs; spraint often contains fish scales and bone. At species level, gestation is about 61–74 days; litters are usually 2–3 young, rarely 1–5; the female raises them alone. A Georgian breeding calendar is not measured on this page. Tracks are five-toed and webbed; the 2022 Bakhvistskali work recorded mostly footprints. Photographs on this page are not from Georgia. No Georgian recording is on this page; the clip is xeno-canto XC961007 (Lars Edenius, Bådahällan, Umeå Municipality, Sweden, 11 April 2023).
Conservation
Loy and co-authors assess Lutra lutra as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List (2022); the trend is decreasing. The previous global assessment (Roos et al. 2015) used the same category. On Georgia’s 2014 Red List (Government Resolution No. 190) the otter is VU, criterion B1(bI), for range decline. It is on CITES Appendix I. Hunting is prohibited because it is on the Red List. Gorgadze 2004 cites the old Red Data Book as critically endangered or nearly extinct; the 2012–2013 survey treats that as outdated. Yoxon and Yoxon summarise Gorgadze’s survey as not abundant but apparently stable, population >300 — that is a secondary summary, not a census on this page. The South Caucasus map gives national status VU and calls the population “small”. Documented pressures include loss of riparian forest, water pollution, reduced fish stocks, poaching, and conflict at fish farms; Gorgadze often saw traps at ponds during the survey. Hydropower and river-bed works are named as habitat threats in the literature. In 2019 Radio Tavisupleba reported a killed individual on the Mtkvari bank in Tbilisi; that is a news report, not a field survey. Do not handle wild animals.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Eurasian otter.
Yes. IUCN lists it as native in Georgia. It is on national mammal lists and on the 2014 Red List.
On river, lake, reservoir, and fish-pond banks. In 2012–2013, 39% of 631 sites had signs. Named places include the Alazani, the Bakhvistskali (Ozurgeti Municipality), Borjomi Gorge, and the Kintrishi. Sources disagree on Lagodekhi. This page does not map every region.
A long dark-brown body, a flat head, a thick tapering tail, and webbed feet. Banks often show five-toed tracks and spraint with fish scales.
At species level, head–body is about 59–90 cm, the tail 35–47 cm, and mass often 3–12 kg. There is no separate measured Georgian series on this page.
On the Alazani mainly fish and frogs, also water snakes. The menu can differ on other rivers.
In freshwater often at night and at dusk. It is resident and does not migrate like many birds. It does not hibernate.
The clip on this page is from Sweden (xeno-canto XC961007); there is no Georgian recording here.
It is not venomous. It can bite if handled. Do not pick it up.
Globally it is Near Threatened. In Georgia it is Vulnerable on the Red List. It is on CITES Appendix I. Hunting is prohibited.
- Loy et al. 2022 — IUCN Red List, Lutra lutra
- Roos et al. 2015 — IUCN Red List, Lutra lutra (2014 assessment)
- Hung & Law 2016 — Mammalian Species 940, Lutra lutra
- Gorgadze 2013 — Seasonal diet of the otter on the Alazani River (Georgia)
- Gorgadze 2004 — The Eurasian otter in the South Caucasus
- Gorgadze 2013 — Rufford final report, national otter survey in Georgia
- Yoxon & Yoxon 2019 — Eurasian otter, a review of current world status
- ქერდიყოშვილი 2022 — წავის პოპულაციის შეფასება, ბახვისწყალი
- Biodiversity map of the South Caucasus — Eurasian otter
- საქართველოს მთავრობის დადგენილება №190 (2014) — წითელი ნუსხა
- Bukhnikashvili & Kandaurov 2002 — The annotated list of mammals of Georgia
- ASM Mammal Diversity Database — Lutra lutra
- CITES Appendices — Lutra lutra
- ილიაუნის მულტიტერმი — წავი, ჩვეულებრივი წავი
- Saveljev et al. 2024 — Genetic structure of Lutra lutra in Northern Eurasia and Caucasus
- რადიო თავისუფლება 2019 — თბილისში მოკლული წავი
- Wikimedia Commons — Eurasian otter.3 (Erik Christensen, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Is it spring already? (Tomasz Baranowski, CC BY 2.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Nutria, Alto Tajo (José Ibañez, CC BY-SA 2.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Puurijärvi (J Hokkanen, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Heces de nutria europea (Huges4981, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- xeno-canto XC961007 — Lutra lutra (Lars Edenius, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Related guides
