An otter, natural monument No. 330 and endangered wildlife class 1, was rescued injured in a valley in Pohang City, North Gyeongsang Province.

Pohang City Hall Cultural Assets Department employees were reported yesterday (25th) from citizens and dispatched to a valley in Ipam-ri, Jukjang-myeon, Buk-gu to rescue young otters.

According to the Pohang Joeun Animal Hospital, who participated in the otter emergency rescue process and commissioned treatment, the otter is a young individual about 2 months old. At the time of discovery, he was exhausted, and it is known that he suffered from dermatitis due to minor skin wounds. A hospital official said, "The otter is currently in artificial breastfeeding to recover his physical strength."

Pohang City explained that after the treatment, the baby otters will be transferred to the Gyeongbuk Wildlife Rescue Center for wild adaptation training, and then released again.


This is not the first time an otter has been found in the Pohang city area. In March, a medical police officer who was working on a maritime guard ship found an otter wandering off the Pohang Passenger Ship Terminal, took a picture, and reported it to the Korea Otter Research Center. In April, citizens saw an otter biting a minnow in a cold stream in front of Ocheongo, Nam-gu, Pohang City.

An official at the Korea Otter Research Center said, "Citizens and organizations frequently contact us that they saw otters from Pohang," but said, "The number of individuals has not been investigated. Male otters have a wide living radius of 15km."

As otters are discovered one after another, the city of Pohang plans to make more efforts in coastal and underwater purification activities carried out every year with the Pohang Coast Guard, Pohang Regional Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Office, the Marine Environment Corporation, and the Korea Maritime Rescue Association.

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(Photo = Provided by Joeun Animal Hospital/Yonhap News)