Di Martino captured the otter on his phone while kayaking. “It reared up, so its white chest was visible, which I recognised as the giant river otter [
Pteronura brasiliensis]. At this point, your legs go weak and your heart starts beating faster.”
There are two possible explanations for the otter’s return. “The closest known populations of giant otter, which is
endangered globally, are in the Paraguayan Pantanal, which could connect with this river from a distance of over 1,000km. That’s the simplest explanation,” said Di Martino. “The other possibility is that there’s a remnant population of the species in Argentina that’s gone undetected. These animals live in family groups, and this was a solitary individual, which we think came from a group.”
Impenetrable national park was created in 2014 with the help of Rewilding Argentina and
Tompkins Conservation, the organisation set up by Kristine Tompkins and her late husband, Doug, to restore wild areas of Chile and Argentina using money from their companies, The North Face, Esprit and Patagonia. Tompkins Conservation has helped protect 5.9m hectares (14.5m acres) in South America’s southern cone.
Working with governments and public and private partners, the organisation has helped create 13 national parks, including Corcovado, Pumalin, Yendegaia,
Kawésqar and Patagonia in Chile and Monte León and Iberá in Argentina. Impenetrable’s 128,000 hectares (316,000 acres) of native forest and waterways protect remarkable biodiversity in a largely intact section of Gran Chaco forest, one of the world’s most endangered ecosystems. Last year, a lone
jaguar, thought to be extinct in the park, was discovered and has since sired cubs.