Majid JahangirSrinagar, Jan. 29 -- Fresh photographs of the elusive Eurasian otter in Sindh Nallah, central Kashmir, have sparked renewed interest in the semi-aquatic mammal, reigniting debates over its presence in the Valley, where it was long thought to have vanished.
The photograph was captured by Mir Faizan Anwar, a Range Officer with the Jammu and Kashmir Forest Department, during a routine patrol in his jurisdiction along with the staff. The image has been described by senior forest officials as a significant scientific record, reinforcing growing evidence that the species continues to inhabit Kashmir's river systems.
Chief Conservator of Forests, Kashmir, Irfan Rasool, called it the first direct visual documentation of the Eurasian...