From the archive record
Otters collecting aluminium, plastic and other stuff for recycling during a show at Night Safari in Singapore. Otter is a common name for a carnivorous mammal in subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic or aquatic, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the weasel family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, martens, minks, polecats, Eurasian and American badgers, honey badgers and wolverines. Otters have long, slim bodies and relatively short limbs with webbed paws. Most have sharp claws on their feet and all except the sea otter have long, muscular tails. The 13 species range in adult size from 0.6 to 1.8 m (2.0 to 5.9 ft) in length and 1 to 45 kg (2.2 to 99.2 lb) in weight. The Oriental small-clawed otter is the smallest otter s