Giant otters are nearly 2m long, hunt in packs and are known as "the river wolves". They are the largest otters in the world, with brown coats and an individually-shaped pale yellow patch on their throats.

Unlike most otters, giant otters live in large family groups, which contain the cubs from previous years. They all hunt together, but each animal catches its own fish, and eats it alone.

The family is close, and baby otters are often looked after by their elder siblings, so the parents can go out and fish. The siblings take turns in doing this, so no individual animal goes hungry.

They are bigger than most mammals in the Amazon region, and also all other otters, because of the huge amounts of fish in the river. Over time they became too big for any other species to hunt.

Unfortunately, because of their large furry coats, they are hunted by man and the sound of their calls and grunts in the morning light, is becoming increasingly rare.