They are perfectly adapted to a semi-aquatic life. Each family group produces one litter per year, occasionally two. Humans have cleared much of the bamboo forests that pandas need to survive. The runoff from farms, oil drilling and mining operations threatens them. The ears are small and rounded. Giant otter muzzles are short and sloping and give the head a ball-shaped appearance. Each individual in the groups has a role, and there is one main breeding pair.
Two years later, Giant Otters were listed under Appendix 1 of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) – this section is reserved for species threatened with extinction. Most young are born during the dry season, though giant otters can mate any time of year. The giant otter is classified as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The gestation period lasts roughly 64 to 77 days, after which the female gives birth in an underground den.
Otters are restless, playful and secretive mammals that spend most of their time along riverbanks. Giant otters are very social animals and groups of up to 20 individuals have been found in forms of "family groups."
Currently, Giant Otters are still classed as ‘Endangered’ because they face new threats in the 21 st century. The giant otter, an endangered apex predator in Amazon river ecosystems, was nearly driven to extinction because of demand for its fur.
Because pandas eat only bamboo, they cannot adapt to live outside of those forests the way other animals do, unless the pandas are provided with bamboo. Giant otters use these marks to recognize one another, and upon meeting other otters, they engage in a behavior known as "periscoping", displaying their throats and upper chests to each other. Pandas are endangered mainly due to habitat loss. Giant otters are endemic (live only there and nowhere else) for the South America, and they can be found in the Orinoco, Amazon and La Plata River systems. Following the banning of fur trade, giant otter populations have recovered across South America. Giant otters are listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and were last assessed in June 2014.
The North American River Otter is endangered due to loss of habitat, it has disappeared from 11 states and unless habitat loss is prevented will disappear into books and artwork. Giant otters are unusually sociable for mustelids.
In previous assessments, they were listed as Vulnerable (1982-1996) and then Endangered (2000 onwards). Otters have the densest fur of any animal—as many as a million hairs per square inch in places. However, there are several emerging threats to this sensitive species. Diet consists mainly of fish, crabs and even caimans and snakes. They prefer slow-moving rivers, lakes, swamps and flooded forests during the rainy season.