"UNUSUAL BEAST" OF DEBED RIVER TURNS OUT TO BE ORDINARY OTTER

Noyan Tapan
Aug 19, 2009

YEREVAN, AUGUST 19, NOYAN TAPAN. The "unusual beast-mutant"
of the Debed River was an otter, Director of the World Wildlife
Fund (WWF) Armenia Office Karen Manvelian said during a talk with
representatives of EcoLur NGO. He denied the local mass media reports
that a beast-mutant allegedly emerged in the river. According to him,
the description of the beast by the witnesses resembles the description
of otters whose burrows are on the river bank.

Otters eat fish and can swim. "No wonder that the people who saw the
otter took this animal for a mutant. We have become disaccustomed to
unexplored nature and stopped recognizing animals that used to live
in our rivers and whose number is gradually declining," K. Manvelian
said. He underlined that otters are not aggressive animals. "Like any
other animal, the otter defends itself when people try to catch him,"
Director of WWF Armenia said, adding that the otter as an endangered
species is included in the Red Book of Armenia and the International
Red List.