<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> <P> Lutra nippon Suzuki, 1996 </P> </Td> </Tr> <P> Lutra nippon Suzuki, 1996 </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> <P> Several genetic studies have suggested that the Japanese river otter should be treated as a distinct species Lutra nippon rather than a subspecies of Lutra lutra . However, this reclassification is not yet generally accepted in the absence of further verification . </P>

When did the japanese river otter become extinct