The Congo Clawless Otter: State of Knowledge and Needs for Further Research

Among the 4 African otter species, the Congo clawless otter (Aonyx congicus) is the least known because of the remoteness of its Central African equatorial rainforest range. Its distribution, status, and biology in the field are now being investigated and preliminary results are introduced. Two missions in Gabon, followed by one in Congo, allowed us to gather local information, to find tracks and to identify otters in their habitat. Further, we were able to start developing a network to gather more information about the 2 otter species present in this region. The current distribution of the Congo clawless otter (Gabon, Congo, Republic Democratic of Congo, south of Cameroon and RCA, north of Angola, and probably west of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi) was mapped from this information network as well as from the locality data of museum specimens. Data about its biology and current status were gathered from local sources and from field biologists working in Gabon and Congo. Threats seem mainly to be deforestation, hunting for bush meat and use for witchcraft materials. Four visits to the collections of natural history museums of London, New York, Paris, and Tervueren (Belgium), provided useful criteria to differentiate Congo clawless otter from Cape clawless otter (Aonyx. capensis). A possible sympatric overlap zone may occur between these species and might imply hybridization. However, this needs to be studied further.