Table of Contents

1: Otter ecology and its background
2: Pen-pictures. Thirteen otters of the world: some natural history
3: Evolutionary relationships, questions and methods of otter ecology
4: Habitats
5: Groups and loners: social organization
6: Scent-marking and interactions: social behaviour
7: Diets
8: Resources: about fish and other prey
9: Otters fishing: hunting behaviour and strategies
10: Thermo- insulation: a limiting factor
11: Populations, recruitment and competition
12: Survival and mortality
13: Syntheses: challenges to otter survival
14: Otters, people and conservation

About the Author

Studied animal behaviour under Prof. Niko Tinbergen (FRS, Nobel Laureate) at Oxford. Co-founder of the Serengeti Research Institute, Tanzania, where he carried out research over seven years, before returning to Oxford, and later to the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology in Banchory, Scotland. After becoming Senior Principal Research Officer, he retired as emeritus in 1997. Awarded the scientific medal of the Zoological Society of London and the scientific medal of
the British Mammal Society, he obtained a DSc from the University of Aberdeen and was made Honorary Professor, University of Aberdeen in 1998. He has carried out research projects on mammals and birds on
all continents, published 6 previous books and some 120 scientific papers. He has studied otters in the field for over 20 years, and published about 40 papers and one previous book on the ecology of otters.

Reviews

Anyone interested in the countryside or animals should have this on their bookshelves. Highland News, January 2008. This is a much more comprehensive book than anything that has gone before and deals with otter species worldwide Keith Day and Brian Rushton, THES This will be a mine of information for any scientist and a good read for anyone interested in mammals. Keith Day and Brian Rushton. The Times Higher Education Supplement Enthusiasm is attractive, and from the start of this book oozes the excitement that Kruuk feels in the company of otters...don't be put off by the slightly academic feel to this book - the writing is very accessible. BBC Wildlife, For a more in-depth look at one of our favourite mammals, Otters, Behaviour and Conservation, by Hans Kruuk is an excellent choice. Kruuk is one of our leading behavioural scientists, and his knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject shine through. Stephen Moss, The Guardian This book represents an excellent and up-to-date elaboration of our knowledge on all 13 species worldwide and, as such, is an important book for anyone interested in otters. The author has done his best to satisfy the needs of both scientists and naturalists, and this book is very likely to become a significant reference source on these exciting and charismatic animals. Petra Hajkova, Folia Zoologica Kruuk is one of our leading behavioural scientists, and his knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject shine through. The Guardian