Giant otters, once targeted by the pelt trade to near extinction, are now legally protected and have made a comeback in some parts of their range. Our state of knowledge about the behavior and ecology of this apex predator has increased substantially since the first studies in the 1970s but remains incomplete. Negative anthropogenic pressures and conflicts affecting giant otters are intensifying and now take many forms, from extensive habitat loss and degradation, pollution, ecotourism with heavy impacts, to gold mining. We review the corpus of giant otter field research and findings since 1980 and discuss new findings and our shortfall of knowledge and their implications for the long-term conservation of the species.Resumo: O abate de ariranhas para o comércio de suas peles no passado levou a espécie quase à extinção. Atualmente a caça à ariranha está proibida e algumas populações têm dado sinais de recuperação em partes de sua distribuição. O conhecimento acerca do comportamento e ecologia deste predador de topo de cadeia aumentou substancialmente desde a realização do primeiro estudo com a espécie na década de 1970, mas permanece incompleto. Conflitos e pressões antrópicas negativas têm se intensificado e abrangem desde a perda extensiva de habitat, poluição, ecoturismo pobremente manejado ou planejado, até a mineração de ouro. Neste artigo nós revisamos o conhecimento atual gerado pelas pesquisas com ariranha após 1980 e discutimos as novas informações, as deficiências de conhecimento ainda existentes e suas implicações para a conservação desta espécie. †

A distribution survey of giant otter was conducted for the first time in the southeast corner of Roraima, bordering  the state of Amazonas, in Brazil (1° 4' S, 61°36' O). The region has recently been recognized as a protected area and is currently elaborating its own management plan. Our survey was carried out according to the guidelines for a standardisation of survey methods as recommended by the IUCN/SSC Otter Specialist Group. The short expedition covered two squares of 100x100km on the UTM grid and interested tree different river basins, investigating black-water as well as white-water watercourses. With the aim of contributing to the optimisation of the standard survey methodology, we carried out some field tests during the survey and present the results in this paper. The expedition revealed the presence of giant otter in all the basins investigated and recorded a series of human activities that may represent a threat to the species survival in the future. Although the results presented are preliminary, we discuss the implication of the presence of the giant otter in the region from a conservation perspective and provide suggestions for the protected area management plan.

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