Photo Stories
By shedding light on the threats and challenges facing our planet’s wildlife and wild spaces, I seek to advance their conservation and ensure their future.
By shedding light on the threats and challenges facing our planet’s wildlife and wild spaces, I seek to advance their conservation and ensure their future.
The recent demand for juvenile Asian small-clawed otters as pets or for entertainment has reached a fever pitch. In Tokyo, otter cafés offer guests the chance to feed and play with these “exotic” animals. Marketing the species as “kawaii” (cute), these seemingly benign cafés, are in reality directly contributing to the illegal otter trade, and their wild population’s steep decline.
On August 26th 2019, Aonyx cinereus was moved to CITES Appendix I, effectively banning all international trade. Although this is a major victory, it is only the first step forward in the conservation of this species red-listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN.
This series is an ongoing project offering an unvarnished look at the reality behind Japan’s wildly popular otter cafes and the exploitation of the endangered Asian small-clawed otter.
Asian small-clawed otters are taken from their families when they are only a few days old and sold into the exotic pet trade. Many end up in otter cafés, like this cub in an establishment in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Highly social, Asian small-clawed otters live in large family groups of as many as 20 individuals. This early separation can have profound impacts on the otter’s psychological state. Often, adult family members are killed in order to procure cubs from the wild.
A staff member at an otter café in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, proudly shows off two Asian small-clawed otters. Otter cafés play up the inherent cuteness of this species, however this façade of “kawaii” has created a societal blind spot where this species is concerned, and the majority of the public isn’t even aware of these cafés role in facilitating the illegal otter trade, or this species Red List status.
An Asian small-clawed otter peers desolately out from a tank at a cramped café, Ikebukuro, Tokyo. This tank is the otters’only access to fresh water in which to swim. In the wild, Asian small-clawed otters require a mixture of both aquatic and terrestrial habitats spanning a range of many miles. According to the IUCN guidelines for the husbandry of Asian small-clawed otters in captivity, a pair of otters requires a minimum of 60 m2 of space and every additional otter requires a further 5 m2. As highly social and incredibly active animals Asian small-clawed otters in captivity require constant stimulation and enrichment in order to maintain the otter’s natural behavior and mental health. Providing for the physical and mental needs of Asian small-clawed otters in captivity in major cities like Tokyo is a challenge where space is at a premium.
Rocky, an albino Asian small-clawed otter is a major attraction of this popular otter café in Ikebukuro, Tokyo.
One of the rarest animals on Earth, Rocky will spend the majority of his life in the cages that surround him.
At this otter café in Harajuku, Tokyo, 3 Asian small-clawed otters are kept in a glass tank. Guests feed the otters through holes in the sides. According to the IUCN guidelines for the husbandry of Asian small-clawed otters in captivity, the otter’s feed times should be varied in order to prevent the development of begging or other stereotypic behavior. At Japan’s otter cafés however, the constant feeding and pampering by staff and guests alike has not only habituated these otters to humans, it has made them dependent upon them.
A staff member at Harajuku’s most popular otter café feeds an Asian small-clawed otter a snack. These snacks, often cheese or pet food, are highly unsuited for the otters whose natural diet consists largely of invertebrates like crabs or shellfish, and fish. In fact, pet food, which has a high salt content, can cause the otter to develop kidney stones which can lead to serious health complications and even death.
Two Asian small-clawed otters press their faces to the side of a tank desperate for food and attention, Harajuku, Tokyo. Concerted, grassroots public awareness campaigns are necessary in order to curb the growing demand for Asian small-clawed otters and promote a cultural shift in the way we view otters and the endangered otter trade.
