Great news! An otter has been spotted!

Video: https://www.instagram.com/p/DR3nYzOiA6q/
For the first time in the past decade, evidence of the presence of the Central Asian river otter has been recorded in Kyrgyzstan! Yesterday, staff members of the “Khan-Teniri” State Nature Park, Soltonbekov Kochorbay and Beyshekeev Azamat, filmed an adult otter on the Turuk River, which flows along the border with the Republic of Kazakhstan. The previous confirmed record—a dead otter—was obtained in 2015 from the Chon-Alai district, on the Kyzyl-Suu River. In the new footage, the adult otter is seen diving into ice-holes and climbing out onto the ice. The Turuk River originates from the glaciers of the Teskey Range and then flows into the Karkara River, most of which runs through Kazakhstan.
Earlier, in 2023–2025, field surveys conducted by zoologists on the Kyzyl-Suu, Chatkal, Tyup, Kokomeren, and Chu rivers showed no signs of resident otter populations; in fact, not even traces of the species were found in the surveyed areas. The research was conducted under the project “The Central Asian River Otter Lutra lutra seistanica in Kyrgyzstan: Monitoring of the Population Status and Development of Measures to Increase Its Numbers,” implemented with the support of the GEF Small Grants Programme, UNDP in Kyrgyzstan. This raised the question of whether the species was still present in the Kyrgyz Republic. The lack of photo and video evidence from local residents further supported pessimistic predictions about the species’ complete disappearance from the country. However, the hypothesis that otters might occasionally migrate from Kazakhstan has now been confirmed. It is now necessary to study the Turuk River basin to determine whether this was an isolated movement from Kazakhstan or whether some resident individuals remain there.
This discovery is a wonderful gift ahead of the upcoming New Year—for conservationists and for all the people of Kyrgyzstan!