Diet and Conservation Status of Cape Clawless Otters in Eastern Zimbabwe

Kairezi otters are subject to human disturbance in the KRPA, including trapping at the Nyafaru trout farm, they are not regularly hunted, and the national park at least offers the population some protection. However there is a long-term threat to the catchment′s otters from habitat loss: clearance of riverine thicket for fuel wood is escalating within the KRPA, but most clearance is likely to be downstream in the unprotected areas of the communal land. Since the otters occur at naturally low densities in the catchment they are highly vulnerable to population fragmentation. Many rivers in Zimbabwe′s eastern highlands face a similar situation of degradation by subsistence agriculture, and therefore it is fair to conclude that the conservation status of the region’s clawless otter population is fragile. If the problems of the KRPA could be solved the scheme could act as a model for further community-based catchment conservation schemes in the area, within which clawless otter conservation could be promoted.