Demand for pet otters is driving a harmful trade
The creatures are cute but make lousy pets
OTTERS ARE cute, this no one can deny. They have big eyes and snub snouts and paws like tiny leedle hands. They look even cuter when they wear jaunty hats and toss food pellets into their mouths as if they were bar snacks, like Takechiyo, a pet otter in Japan. Documenting Takechiyo’s antics has earned his owner nearly 230,000 followers on Instagram, a photo-sharing app.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Some like it otter”
From the January 15th 2022 edition
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