<P> The Japanese river otter ( Lutra lutra whiteleyi ) ( 日本 川獺 , Nihon - kawauso ) is an extinct variety of otter formerly widespread in Japan . Dating back to the 1880s , it was even seen in Tokyo . The population suddenly shrank in the 1930s , and the mammal nearly vanished . Since then , it has only been spotted several times , in 1964 in the Seto Inland Sea , and in the Uwa Sea in 1972 and 1973 . The last official sighting was in the southern part of Kōchi Prefecture in 1979 , when it was photographed in the mouth of the Shinjo River in Susaki . It was subsequently classified as a `` Critically Endangered '' species on the Japanese Red List . On August 28 , 2012 , the Japanese river otter was officially declared extinct by the Ministry of the Environment . It is the official animal symbol of Ehime Prefecture . In February 2017 , a wild otter was caught on camera on Tsushima Island , Nagasaki Prefecture . However , it is not known whether the observed otter was a Japanese river otter . </P>
<P> The Japanese river otter ( Lutra lutra whiteleyi ) ( 日本 川獺 , Nihon - kawauso ) is an extinct variety of otter formerly widespread in Japan . Dating back to the 1880s , it was even seen in Tokyo . The population suddenly shrank in the 1930s , and the mammal nearly vanished . Since then , it has only been spotted several times , in 1964 in the Seto Inland Sea , and in the Uwa Sea in 1972 and 1973 . The last official sighting was in the southern part of Kōchi Prefecture in 1979 , when it was photographed in the mouth of the Shinjo River in Susaki . It was subsequently classified as a `` Critically Endangered '' species on the Japanese Red List . On August 28 , 2012 , the Japanese river otter was officially declared extinct by the Ministry of the Environment . It is the official animal symbol of Ehime Prefecture . In February 2017 , a wild otter was caught on camera on Tsushima Island , Nagasaki Prefecture . However , it is not known whether the observed otter was a Japanese river otter . </P>
when did the japanese river otter become extinct
when did the japanese river otter become extinct
August 28 , 2012
August 28 , 2012