Pune: A rescue operation conducted by the forest department and RESQ Charitable Trust revealed a rare Eurasian Otter in Indapur — a species previously unrecorded in this area. The rescue was initiated following an urgent call about a civet reportedly trapped in a deep well. A closer inspection led to an entirely unexpected discovery.
Upon arrival, local forest guards Milind Shinde, Anant Hukire, Shubham Kadu and Shubham Dhaitonde, along with RESQCT team members Nachiket Awadhani, Prashant Kaulkar and Dr Shreekanth Deshmukh, assessed the situation and devised a rescue plan. Employing an auto-trap cage, they patiently waited in silence for nearly six hours until the otter, unable to escape on its own, entered the cage. Once safely retrieved, the otter was transferred to the RESQ ambulance and rushed to the Wildlife Transit Treatment Centre in Bavdhan, Pune, for immediate veterinary assessment, reaching the facility by midnight on Sunday.
This sighting is a milestone for the district, marking the first recorded presence of the Eurasian Otter in Pune. "This is an unprecedented sighting for the district. While smooth-coated otters were historically recorded decades ago, no Eurasian Otters have ever been documented here until now," said Mahadev Mohite, IFS, deputy conservator of forests, Pune (territorial).
He added, "We have deployed our teams as well as the RESQCT team to survey the areas in Indapur to trace the possible origin of this individual, which will be essential in pla.
