Conservationists have confirmed the presence of a Eurasian otter, once thought extinct in the wild in Hong Kong, in northern Lantau waters. While the discovery brought “hope for this locally critically endangered species,” it also raised questions about government plans to develop Lantau’s northern shore.
Otter faeces found by Hong Kong conservationists at The Brothers Marine Park, in northern Lantau waters. Photo: Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden.
According to a statement from conservation and education centre Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden on Wednesday, conservationists found a clump of faeces they believed came from an otter while conducting a survey of The Brothers Marine Park off northern Lantau Island.
“Subsequent genetic identification and thorough verification ultimately confirmed that these remains indeed belonged to the Eurasian otter,” the statement said, calling it a “significant breakthrough.”
While Eurasian otters used to be widespread in the territory’s western waters – sighted in areas spanning the New Territories, Kowloon, Hong Kong Island and other outlying islands – Kadoorie Farm said that records relating to the animals on Lantau were scarce, with no traces found since the 1960s. By then, the otters’ range had contracted to the extent that they were considered extinct in the wild.
A Eurasian otter. File photo: Erwan Grey/Pexels.
Populations have declined globally as a result of threats including habitat destruction and water pollution, and Eurasian otters are classified as “near threatened” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.
“Our recent discovery not only provides the first concrete evidence of the Eurasian otter’s presence in Lantau waters, but also substantially broadens the current known range of otters in Hong Kong, bringing hope for this locally critically endangered species,” the education and conservation centre said.
Additionally, the conservationists encounter with the otter’s excrement indicated the animals “extend beyond coastal wetlands and rivers to include offshore islands and adjacent marine environments,” Kadoorie Farm added, explaining that Eurasian otters would need freshwater sources to rinse salt from their fur.
The East Brother Island and the coast of Siu Ho Wan in northern Lantau. Photo: Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden.
“It is highly likely that otters utilise the freshwater rivers and estuarine areas along the coast of Lantau Island. This finding underscores the ongoing necessity to strengthen and expand field survey efforts.”
The northern part of Lantau Island has been earmarked for “strategic economic and housing development” under the government’s Sustainable Lantau Blueprint, published in 2017, while conservation efforts will be focused in the south of the island.
In its statement, Kadoorie Farm noted that “future development in North Lantau should also incorporate conservation measures for otters and other rare species, aiming to protect the integrity and connectivity of important freshwater habitats, thereby striving for a balance between development and conservation.”
HKFP has reached out to the Sustainable Lantau Office for comment.
Hong Kong’s Inner Deep Bay Wetland serves as a significant habitat for the Eurasian otter. Photo: Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden.
Since Eurasian otters were rediscovered in Hong Kong in Mai Po in the 1980s, most sightings have occurred within the “internationally important wetlands of Inner Deep Bay in the northwestern New Territories,” according to Kadoorie Farm, which has been studying the status of three species of otters in China since 2012.
Inner Deep Bay falls within the government’s vast Northern Metropolis, a large-scale development planned near the city’s border with Shenzhen and designed to tackle Hong Kong’s land and housing shortage, while also transforming the area into an innovation and technology hub.
While authorities have vowed to conserve around 2,000 hectares of Deep Bay wetlands, environmental groups including WWF have expressed concerns “about the potential impacts of the Northern Metropolis on the overall ecological functions of Deep Bay.”
