A poacher was arrested in the Puerto Viejo de Fernández Oro Natural Reserve, Río Negro, for hunting an endangered animal.
He killed a specimen of Huillín. The case has already been referred to the Animal Welfare department, which is working on the corresponding sanctions against the author, a native of Cipolletti.
### Detained for hunting an endangered animal
The incident was detected and reported by members of the Civil Association “Guardians of the River,” while carrying out inspection tasks in the area.
According to local media reports, the workers heard shots coming from a Volkswagen Bora and later found remains of viscera and the hide of a Huillín. It is a species of otter that is endangered and protected by law.
Authorities identified the driver of the vehicle: a neighbor of Cipolletti, who admitted to being the owner of the compressed air gun with which he killed the Huillín. He was accompanied by other people.
The civil association emphasized that since 2004, this animal’s status has also been recognized internationally by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
“From Guardians of the Río Negro, we strongly condemn these acts that threaten biodiversity and the balance of our ecosystems. The Huillín, the only freshwater mammal in the country and our region’s fauna, deserves to be protected,” demanded the organization.
### What is Huillín, the endangered otter
Huillín is also known as the “river otter” or “Patagonian river wolf.” It is a species of carnivorous mammal from the Mustelidae family that inhabits aquatic environments in Chile and Argentina.
This carnivorous mammal finds its food mainly in the water, where it can remain submerged for up to 50 seconds searching for its prey (mostly crustaceans and fish).
For most of the year, the Huillín is solitary and territorial, except during the reproductive period when it can be seen in pairs.
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