The North American Otter Chronicles website was created as a resource to guide you through the process of participating in the publication of your articles in the North American Otter Chronicles publication. It is important for all of us to remember the historical content of The River Otter Journal (ROJ) published from the Fall of 1999 through the Winter of 2013 by a cadre of River Otter Alliance volunteers. To access the content of these historical issues of the ROJ go to https://riverotterjournal.org. The intent of the Chronicles publication is to provide informational articles with a similar intent and content as was published in the ROJ. However, the Chronicles provides informational articles, not just on the North American river Otter but, on the all three species of otter inhabiting North America-the sea otter (Enhyrda lutris), North American river Otter (Lontra canadensis), and the neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis). The Chronicles website is where you can access the information you need to compose and submit an article for consideration in the Chronicles-see the section “Submitting Articles to the Chronicles. This section is too large to include as a hardcopy in the Chronicles publication. A hyperlink will be added to the “Important Links” section in the Chronicles publication to connect you to “Submitting Articles to the Chronicles” section on the website.  As the number of issues grows you will also have access, on this website, to separate PDFs of the “Indexes to Chronicles Issues” by both author and subject. These will also have a connecting hyperlink with the Chronicles publication.

Another valuable resource is current bibliographies on otters. The 2021 Bibliographies on the sea otter, North American river otter and the neotropical otter are complete and will have hyperlinks between the Chronicles publication and on Chronicles website.

It is also the intent of this editor and associates in the zoo, aquarium, and wildlife center industry to develop a comprehensive listing of species of otters in zoos, aquariums, and wildlife centers in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. This listing  is intended to be published every other year in either The IUCN Otter Specialist Group Bulletin or a scientific publication targeting members of the zoo, aquarium, and wildlife center industry. Whichever is the case a hyperlink will be available in the Chronicles publication and on the Chronicles website. In addition the Chronicles publication will always accept and publish “Otter News from North American Zoos, Aquariums, and Wildlife Centers in the aforementioned countries.

The Chronicles is a semi-annual virtual publication and requires no membership or dues as it is Open Access through the IUCN Otter Specialist Group Bulletin via the following link: https://otterchronicles.org

Victor L. Camp, Editor

North American Otter Chronicles

19 January 2022