Hello there, giant otters!

We were very excited to come across this lively and assertive group of giant otters inside one of our creeks at the Tapiche Reserve in the northern Amazon of Peru. We'd seen ripples on the water and heard the otters vocalizing from a distance, so we stopped the boat in hopes of seeing them. Rather than swimming away, the otters actually crossed the creek back towards us to come investigate, popping up about 3m away from the boat. The facts that these rare and endangered animals were the ones to approach us and that they were comfortable approaching us so closely are fantastic signs that this group is well-established in the creek and confident about protecting their territory.

While we've seen giant otters many times before at the reserve, this is the first time we've observed this kind of behavior towards us. We see giant otters on both sides of the Tapiche River within the Tapiche Reserve, and we're happy to report that their numbers seem to be increasing each year.

Check out our previous post courtesy of Alex O'Connor comparing his experience at the reserve in 2011 and 2020, and get a peak at some of the other animals we saw during his stay!