ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. 105 
The visitor will now follow the path leading along the 
side of the Lake to 
The Otter enclosure 
on its banks Only one Otter is exhibited in this admi¬ 
rable enclosure, which is so planned as to include an area 
of deep water to which the animal has free access, and 
yet cannot escape. The portion under water is con¬ 
structed, so as to afford easy access for small fishes and 
prawns which constitute its food. It was intended that a 
number of Otters should have been kept in this place, 
and two were introduced to it originally but the enclosure 
not being quite completed one escaped, and the female 
that remains has now become so combative and jealous, that 
it has not been possible to allow any other otter to remain 
with her. After various efforts had been made to accustom 
her to a companion, but without success, it was thought 
that if one were introduced in a cage it would be 
protected, and she would get accustomed to its presence. 
So jealous and fierce, however, did she prove, that she 
at once dragged the cage into the water and held it down 
as if intending to drown the animal. Otherwise, she is per¬ 
fectly gentle and will follow her keeper when allowed out. 
This otter, Lutra nair , is widely distributed over Lower 
Bengal, and is numerically abundant. It lives exclusively 
on fish, has a very voracious appetite, and large numbers of 
fish are destroyed by it. When caught young, it is very 
docile, and follows its master like a dog. The fishermen in 
the Jessor Sundarban take advantage of this disposition 
and train the otter to drive fish into their nets, rewarding 
it with a fish each time it is successful. These tamed 
otters have a collar round their necks and are secured 
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