“Basic cost of animal moderate ($75-$250) as is maintenance. But transporting otters is exceptionally difficult. Animal resents restricted quarters and will fight and tear itself to destruction to escape. However, no matter how brutal transporting can be (and other ways man inflicts pain on the otter) it never seems to resent this treatment.”

CIA Dossier on “Lutra the Otter”

A newly declassified file from the Central Intelligence Agency’s Project MK-ULTRA is not about dosing unsuspecting people with LSD. Instead, it is about otters… Yes, you read that right! Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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John Greenewald — founder of The Black Vault, a site specializing in declassified government records — has obtained an interesting CIA file through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request : “A Dossier on Lutra (The Otter).”

The CIA “Otter Dossier” opens with a summary—perhaps the most ringing endorsement otters are likely to receive from humans.

“Lutra, the otter, is a compact, powerful, intelligent animal capable of negotiating land, water, and obstacles with great facility.

Lutra can survive in hostile environments such as under ice, in hot water, in raging seas, and even in urban environments.

Capable of being easily trained and becomes devoted to humans which sometimes leads to its destruction. It can find its own food if necessary and can make long journeys routinely.

Usually sleeps on back with ‘arms’ folded. The otters like to sleep with humans.

Never, if possible, confine (or leave in zoo or kennel) an otter which has enjoyed any human companionship or freedom.

Do not panic when animal is in rough water, mountainous waves, or under ice.”

The report strongly suggests that the CIA was seriously considering the possibility of deploying otters in the field.

“The otters can open zipper, climb ladder, chew through zinc sheet, turn on water tap, carry stones and marbles … throw objects with head (from mouth), hold slippery objects.”

Why Sea Otters Hold Hands & Wrap Pups in Seaweed

Sea otters cannot even swim on their own when they are born. In the wild, a mother otter takes her pup everywhere to protect and educate her baby.

REFERENCES

Inside the CIA’s Top-secret Otter Dossier — Newsweek (December 2018)

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Animal Spies & Warriors — The CIA Top-secret Otter Files