Japanese Otter

The Japanese otter was a semi-aquatic mustelid formerly found along Japanese rivers and coasts. Its taxonomic rank remains disputed: it has been treated both as Lutra nippon and as a form of the Eurasian otter. Museum skins show the long streamlined body, flattened head, short limbs and muscular tail characteristic of an otter adapted to swimming and pursuing aquatic prey (Wikipedia, general species account).

The last official Japanese sighting was recorded on Shikoku in 1979, and later surveys did not produce confirmed evidence. Japan's Ministry of the Environment declared the animal extinct in 2012 after more than three decades without a verified record. Subsequent reports and camera images have not established survival; hunting, pollution and habitat alteration all preceded its disappearance (Japan Ministry of the Environment 2012, as reported on Wikipedia).