Otters as social media stars - and what it means for their wild population

A few weeks ago I signed up for an online drawing session with wildlifedrawing.co.uk. A few times a year I attend these along the in-person ones. They provide a comforting space where you can unwind, draw and learn more about a particular animal. And you will leave more inspired and uplifted after each session.

Drawing hairy-nosed otters online

This time it was about the hairy-nosed otter, for me a welcome change to the more familiar and better known Eurasian otter or sea otters you hear a lot about.

Hairy-nosed otters are home in South East Asia, where they sadly get victimised by poachers and habitat loss. These otters are so rarely sighted that we don’t know a lot about them and they are considered endangered by the IUCN.

Instead of a pencil, our instructor Jennie used a brush ink pen, after the work of  Charles Tunnicliffe‘s wood carvings. I haven’t drawn with ink in a long time traditionally too and decided to give it a try. I used Faber Castell technical pens for the most part, the outlines and the hair details on the otter's body, and a brush pen for the bigger shapes like the shadows or environment. I am quite satisfied with the result.

The illegal pet trade

Unfortunately otters are often kept as pets, especially the small short-clawed otter in Southeast Asia. The illegal pet trade contributes to the decline of these vulnerable species. Some owners even created social media accounts on various platforms for their furry stars. They get put into baby or puppet clothes, beg for food and eat it on tables or chairs. Those channels have millions of followers and videos view numbers around the same size.

If you see these videos, scroll past them and don’t engage in any form. Instagram‘s algorithm will count it as interesting the longer you stare at videos. If you write a comment, even if against the content, social media platforms will count it as engagement which will promote the video in the algorithm‘s view. The algorithms can’t or won’t detect whether the comment is against the content. It is well known that social media platforms are promoting concerning content as they feed on people’s emotions. Which leads to creators to exploit this tendency. But that’s a topic for another day.

If you want to take part in an in-person or online drawing session, head over to wildlifedrawing.co.uk.

I've posted about a session years ago too, check it out here!

See you on an otter day,

Andi Pasti