Distribution in Madre de Dios

giant otter - peru - manu - conservation

The map below shows the location of Giant Otter breeding families in Madre de Dios (data from the 2008 census undertaken by Frankfurt Zoological Society).

The main strongholds for the species are Manu National Park (8 breeding families), Tambopata National Reserve (4 breeding families) and Bahuaja-Sonene National Park (2 breeding families). Because of contamination and disturbance from gold-mining activities, there are now no Giant Otters on the Malinowski and Inambari rivers, and the species is very rare in lakes along the Madre de Dios river downstream of the Colorado River.