Nutrition

As the Lontra provocax goes about its daily life there is always a need for food and nourishment throughout the day. Most otters, depending on their environment, are not shy and can be aggressive, taking whatever it can grab to eat using its’ teeth or hands. In most areas these otters have diets of fish such as : Cheridon australe, Cyprinus carpio, Galaxias, Notothenia, Oncorhynchus mykiss, Percichthys trucha, Percillia gillissi, Salmo trutta, along with crustaceans; Aegla, Camilonotus, Lithodes antartica, Munida, Paralomis granulosa, Parastacus pugnax, and Sammastacus spinifrom. These two families are their main source of food, but once in a while they eat mollusks and even some birds (Medina 2014)!

 

One study was performed to observe how the diets would change between this species in an area farther south in Chile. In this wet-landed area of Chile the environment influenced their diet. One year the otter’s diet could be mostly crustaceans while the next year their diet would consist of mostly fish. The otters would eat frogs when the precipitation was right to swim into latrines and other marsh like areas. These areas not only provided a source of food for the otter but also a settlement that was cozy and great for their needs.

 Soutern River otter enjoying a meal http://www.seadocsociety.org/species/animals/fishes/salmon/

           

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References: 

Sepulveda, M., Franco, M., Medina, G., Fasola, L. & Alvarez, R. 2008. Lontra provocax. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 27 March 2014.

Vogel, Gonzalo, and C. Gonzalez-Lagos. "Habitat Use and Diet of Endangered Southern River Otter Lontra Provocax in a Predominantly Palustrine Wetland in Chile." Wildlife Biology 14.2 (2008): 211-20. Print.

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