Editing Otter (section)

== Relation with humans ==
[[File:Otters Crossing sign at Benbecula.jpg|thumb|left|Sign warning drivers in [[Benbecula]] in the [[Outer Hebrides]] to beware of otters on the road]]

=== Hunting ===
Otters have been hunted for their [[Fur|pelts]] from at least the 1700s, although it may have begun well before then. Early hunting methods included darts, arrows, nets and snares but later, traps were set on land and guns used.

There has been a long history of otter pelts being worn around the world. In China it was standard for the royalty to wear robes made from them. People that were financially high in status also wore them. The tails of otters were often made into items for men to wear. These included hats and belts. Even some types of mittens for children have been made from the fur of otters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://otter-world.com/otter-hunting.html|title=Otter hunting|publisher=Otter-World.com|year=2009|access-date=19 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054937/http://otter-world.com/otter-hunting.html|archive-date=21 September 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Otters have also been hunted using dogs, especially the [[otterhound]].<ref name="britishpathe">{{cite web|url=http://www.britishpathe.com/video/otter-hunting-aka-otter-hunting-begins|title=Otter Hunting AKA Otter Hunting Begins – British Pathé|website=britishpathe.com|access-date=28 September 2017|archive-date=2 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702134148/http://www.britishpathe.com/video/otter-hunting-aka-otter-hunting-begins|url-status=live}}</ref> From 1958 to 1963, the 11 otter hunts in England and Wales killed 1,065 otters between them. In such hunts, the hunters notched their poles after every kill. The prized trophy that hunters would take from the otters was the [[baculum]], which would be worn as a [[Tie clip|tie-pin]].<ref name="ACIGAWIS">{{cite web|url=http://www.acigawis.org.uk/bloodsports/otterhunting|title=Otterhunting|publisher=Animal Cruelty Investigation Group/Animal Welfare Information Service|access-date=19 September 2013|archive-date=21 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054718/http://www.acigawis.org.uk/bloodsports/otterhunting|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Traffic (conservation programme)|Traffic]] (the wildlife trade monitoring network) reported that otters are at serious risk in Southeast Asia and have disappeared from parts of their former range. This decline in populations is due to hunting to supply the demand for skins.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.traffic.org/home/2009/12/9/otters-feel-the-heat-in-southeast-asia.html|date=9 December 2009|title=Otters feel the heat in Southeast Asia|publisher=[[Traffic (conservation programme)]]|access-date=17 January 2014|archive-date=30 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030101158/http://www.traffic.org/home/2009/12/9/otters-feel-the-heat-in-southeast-asia.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Fishing for humans ===
{{Main|Otter fishing}}
For many generations, fishermen in southern Bangladesh have bred [[smooth-coated otter]]s and used them to chase fish into their nets. Once a widespread practice, passed down from father to son throughout many communities in Asia, this traditional use of domesticated wild animals is still in practice in the district of [[Narail]], Bangladesh.<ref>{{cite journal|author=de Trey-White, Simon |year=2007|title=Fisherman's friend|journal=Geographical|volume=79|issue=5}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Feeroz, M.M., Begum, S. and Hasan, M. K.|url=http://www.otterspecialistgroup.org/Bulletin/Volume28A/Feeroz_et_al_2011.html|year=2011|title=Fishing with Otters: a Traditional Conservation Practice in Bangladesh|journal=Proceedings of XIth International Otter Colloquium, IUCN Otter Spec. Group Bull.|volume=28A|pages=14–21|access-date=20 June 2012|archive-date=30 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630034000/http://www.otterspecialistgroup.org/Bulletin/Volume28A/Feeroz_et_al_2011.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Attacks on humans ===
A 2011 review by the IUCN/SSC Otter Specialist Group showed that otter attacks reported between 1875 and 2010 occurred most often in [[Florida]], where human and otter populations have substantially increased since 2000, with the majority involving the North American otter. At least 42 instances of attack were found, including one resulting in death and another case of serious injury. Attacking otters had [[rabies]] in 36% of anecdotal reports.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Belanger |first=M |date=2011 |title=A review of violent or fatal otter attacks |url=https://www.iucnosgbull.org/Volume28/Belanger_et_all_2011.html |journal=IUCN Otter Spec. Group Bull. |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=11–16}}</ref> 80% of otter bite victims do not seek medical treatment.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Goldstein |first=Ellie J. C. |date=1992-03-01 |title=Bite Wounds and Infection |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/clinids/14.3.633 |journal=Clinical Infectious Diseases |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=633–640 |doi=10.1093/clinids/14.3.633 |pmid=1562653 |issn=1058-4838 |access-date=8 June 2022 |archive-date=15 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315054625/https://academic.oup.com/cid/article-abstract/14/3/633/282040?redirectedFrom=fulltext |url-status=live }}</ref>

Animal welfare groups say that, unless threatened, otters rarely attack humans.<ref name=":1" /> In November 2021, about 20 otters ambushed a British man in his 60s during an early morning walk in [[Singapore Botanic Gardens]]. Despite weighing over 200 pounds, he was trampled and bitten and could not stand up without help from a nearby rescuer. The man speculated that another runner might have stepped on one of the animals earlier, and wished that there could be more lighting installed at that location.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Lin |first=Chen |date=2021-12-11 |title=British man recounts attack by otters in Singapore gardens |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/british-man-recounts-attack-by-otters-singapore-gardens-2021-12-11/ |access-date=2022-06-08 |archive-date=8 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220608221334/https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/british-man-recounts-attack-by-otters-singapore-gardens-2021-12-11/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Religion and mythology ===
[[Norse mythology]] tells of the [[Norse dwarves|dwarf]] [[Ótr]] habitually taking the form of an otter. The myth of "Otter's Ransom"<ref>{{cite web
| title = The Otter's Ransom| access-date =5 July 2007| url = http://faculty.mcla.edu/cthomas/otter.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060909025214/http://faculty.mcla.edu/cthomas/otter.html| archive-date = 9 September 2006|work=faculty.mcla.edu}}</ref> is the starting point of the [[Volsunga saga]].

In [[Irish mythology]], the character [[Lí Ban (mermaid)|Lí Ban]] was turned from a woman into a mermaid, half human and half salmon, and given three hundred years of life to roam the oceans. Her lapdog assumed the form of an otter and shared her prolonged lifetime and her extensive wanderings.

In some Native American cultures, otters are considered [[totem animals]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.native-languages.org/legends-otter.htm|title=Native American Indian Otter Legends, Meaning and Symbolism from the Myths of Many Tribes|website=native-languages.org|access-date=6 May 2015|archive-date=18 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518075130/http://www.native-languages.org/legends-otter.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

The otter is held to be a clean animal belonging to [[Ahura Mazda]] in [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] belief, and taboo to kill.<ref name="Cooper92">{{Cite book|last=Cooper |first=JC |title=Symbolic and Mythological Animals |pages=171–72|year=1992 |publisher= Aquarian Press |location=London |isbn=978-1-85538-118-6}}</ref>

In popular Korean mythology, it is told that people who see an otter (''soodal'') will attract 'rain clouds' for the rest of their lives.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-12-12 |title=Otter Symbolism (6 Meanings) - As Spirit Animals & in Dreams |url=https://symbolismandmetaphor.com/otter-symbolism-spirit-animal/ |access-date=2023-09-25 |language=en-US}}</ref>

In the Buddhist Jataka tales, The Otters and The Wolf, two otters agreed to let a wolf settle their dispute in dividing their caught fish but it was taken away by the cunning wolf.<ref>Jataka Tales: The Otters and The Wolf https://mocomi.com/jataka-tales-the-otters-and-the-wolf/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930094800/https://mocomi.com/jataka-tales-the-otters-and-the-wolf/ |date=30 September 2020 }}</ref>

==== Japanese folklore ====
[[File:SekienKawauso.jpg|thumb|"Kawauso" ({{nihongo2|獺}}) from the [[Gazu Hyakki Yagyō]] by [[Sekien Toriyama]]]]
In Japanese, otters are called "kawauso" ({{nihongo2|獺、川獺}}). In Japanese folklore, they fool humans in the same way as foxes ([[kitsune]]) and [[bake-danuki|tanuki]].

In the [[Noto, Ishikawa (Fugeshi)|Noto region]], [[Ishikawa Prefecture]], there are stories where they shapeshift into beautiful women or children wearing checker-patterned clothing. If a human attempts to speak to one, they will answer "oraya" and then answer "araya," and if anybody asks them anything, they say cryptic things like "kawai."<ref>{{Cite book|author=柳田國男|title=妖怪談義|orig-year=1956|year=1977|publisher=講談社|series=講談社学術文庫|isbn=978-4-06-158135-7|page=19}}</ref><ref name="村上">{{Cite book | author=村上健司編著|title=妖怪事典 | year=2000|publisher=毎日新聞社| isbn=978-4-620-31428-0|page=114 }}</ref> There are darker stories, such as one from [[Kaga Province]] (now [[Ishikawa Prefecture]]) in which an otter that lives in the castle's moat shapeshifts into a woman, invites males, and then kills and eats them.<ref>{{Cite book|author=水木しげる|title=妖怪大図鑑|year=1994|publisher=講談社|series=講談社まんが百科|isbn=978-4-06-259008-2|page=59}}</ref><!-- This is an English page; please translate these reference into English -->

In the [[kaidan (parapsychology)|kaidan]], essays, and legends of the [[Edo period]] like the "Urami Kanawa" ({{nihongo2|裏見寒話}}),<ref name="柴田">{{Cite book|author=柴田宵曲|editor=木村新他編|title=柴田宵曲文集|orig-year=1963|year=1991|publisher=小沢書店|volume=6|page=477|chapter=続妖異博物館}}</ref> "Taihei Hyaku Monogatari" ({{nihongo2|太平百物語}}), and the "Shifu Goroku" ({{nihongo2|四不語録}}), there are tales about strange occurrences like otters that shapeshift into beautiful women and kill men.<ref name="村上" />

In the town of Numatachi, Asa District, [[Hiroshima Prefecture]] (now [[Hiroshima]]), they are called "tomo no kawauso" ({{nihongo2|伴のカワウソ}}) and "ato no kawauso" ({{nihongo2|阿戸のカワウソ}}). It is said that they shapeshift into [[Bhikkhu|bōzu]] (a kind of monk) and appear before passers-by, and if the passer-by tries to get close and look up, its height steadily increases until it becomes a large bōzu.<ref>{{Cite book|author=藤井昭編著 | title=安芸の伝説 | year=1976| publisher=第一法規出版 |page=166}}</ref>

In the Tsugaru region, [[Aomori Prefecture]], they are said to possess humans. It is said that those possessed by otters lose their stamina as if their soul has been extracted.<ref name="内田">{{Cite book|author=内田邦彦|title=津軽口碑集|orig-year=1929|year=1979|publisher=歴史図書社|page=126}}</ref> They are also said to shapeshift into severed heads and get caught in fishing nets.<ref name="内田" />

In the [[Kashima District, Ishikawa|Kashima District]] and the [[Hakui District, Ishikawa|Hakui District]] in [[Ishikawa Prefecture]], they are seen as a yōkai under the name ''kabuso'' or ''kawaso''. They perform pranks like extinguishing the fire of the paper lanterns of people who walk on roads at night, shapeshifting into a beautiful woman of 18 or 19 years of age and fooling people, or tricking people and making them try to engage in sumo against a rock or a tree stump.<ref name="村上" /> It is said that they speak human words, and sometimes people are called and stopped while walking on roads.<ref>{{Cite book|author=多田克己|title=幻想世界の住人たち|year=1990|publisher=新紀元社|series=Truth in Fantasy|volume=IV|isbn=978-4-915146-44-2|page=124}}</ref>

In the Ishikawa and Kochi Prefectures, they are said to be a type of kappa, and there are stories told about how they engage in sumo with otters.<ref name="村上" /> In places like the [[Hokuriku region]], [[Kii Province|Kii]], and [[Shikoku]], the otters are seen as a type of kappa.<ref>{{Cite book|author=村上健司|editor=講談社コミッククリエイト編|title=DISCOVER 妖怪 日本妖怪大百科|year=2007|publisher=講談社|series=KODANSHA Official File Magazine|volume=1|isbn=978-4-06-370031-2|page=19|chapter=河童と水辺の妖怪たち}}</ref> In the [[Kagakushū]], a dictionary from the [[Muromachi period]], an otter that grew old becomes a kappa.<ref>{{Cite book|author=香川雅信|editor=吉良浩一編|title=怪 (ムック)|year=2012|publisher=角川書店|series=カドカワムック|volume=37|isbn=978-4-04-130038-1|page=34|chapter=カッパは緑色か?}}</ref>

In an Ainu folktale, in Urashibetsu (in [[Abashiri, Hokkaido|Abashiri]], [[Hokkaido]]), there are stories where monster otters shapeshift into humans, go into homes where there are beautiful girls, and try to kill the girl and make her its wife.<ref>{{Cite book|author=知里真志保|title=アイヌ民譚集|orig-year=1937|year=1981|publisher=岩波書店|series=岩波文庫|isbn=978-4-00-320811-3 |pages=198–200|chapter=えぞおばけ列伝}}</ref>

In China, like in Japan, there are stories where otters shapeshift into beautiful women in old books like ''[[In Search of the Supernatural]]'' and the ''Zhenyizhi'' ({{nihongo2|甄異志}}).<ref name="柴田" />