The Cryptid Zoo: Waitoreke (or Maori Otter)

This small animal looks like an otter and is reported from New Zealand. Its preferred habitat is, of course, the water. From the description alone, it is hard to tell exactly what it might be, especially since New Zealand is an area of the world with many unusual animals. The waitoreke might be a new species of otter, or something even more exciting: a new marsupial or even a new monotreme (egg-laying mammal) like the duck-billed platypus.

In any case, New Zealand is an area where it would be almost commonplace to find a new species of small animal of any type. There is ample reason to think that the waitoreke could turn out to be a real animal.

You can find out more about the Waitoreke from the following sources:

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Clark, Jerome and Coleman, Loren. Cryptozoology A-Z. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. Page 246

Newton, Michael. Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology: A Global Guide to Hidden Animals and Their Pursuers. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2005. Pages 237, 333, 479

Wikipedia, The. Waitoreke