Meet Luis David Perez Gracida
Luis David Perez Gracida is an animal enthusiast, conservationist and nature artist. His fantastic work, shown framed in the image below, earned him our IOSF Otter Oscar for Photography/Artwork in 2024.
We were delighted when Luis agreed to answer some of our questions, so everyone can get to know him a bit better.
Luis pictured with his artwork and Oscar award beside the Atoyac river
We know you work with otters as part of your university work, but what inspired you to start focusing on otters?
I think I owe it all to three moments in my life. My father always took me to the countryside to observe animals. Here we saw many birds, snakes, the occasional mammal, some foxes, squirrels, rabbits and opossums. My mother Mari and my father Luis always told me that we had to admire the animals, we had to respect them and always take care of them, from there (I was 7 years old) I wanted to start studying biology.
After that, I used to watch the program “Animal Planet al Extremo” with my brothers Alonso and Angel, and in 2005 the episode “Parejas Disparejas” ("Odd Couples") was premiered. In this episode the third part was about the American Badger (Taxidea taxus) and the Coyote (Canis latrans), and discussed how they had developed a symbiotic relationship when hunting Prairie dogs. Following the coyote running after the Prairie dogs, the American Badger would dig to get them out of their burrows. From this moment I fell in love with the American Badger for its “poorly proportioned” shape, with short legs and elongated body, without knowing that I would love all the mustelids.
I am originally from the community of Peñuela, municipality of Amatlán de los Reyes, which is located in the region of the “Altas Montañas” High Mountains in Veracruz, Mexico. Near to this place is the Atoyac River, a river that I have known since I was a child and that I was traveling before I knew that the otter existed. In 2020 a group of friends and I (Angel and Mario) formed the group of birders “Trogones de la Montaña”, to watch birds in a small area in the community of Rancho Fermin, located in the municipality of Atoyac. At around 10am, whilst walking near the river, between sugar cane crops, I went to the water's edge to wash my face. To my great surprise, I observed a stone that was topped with feces which smelled of crab and fish. At this site I found new and old feces in different states; without knowing it, I had found what appeared to be an otter's latrine. It was the first time I found this species in the region and I was very excited.
After that, I began to visit other sites, always asking people about this mustelid that had me intrigued. I always asked excitedly, “Have you seen it, do you know the otter?” and they told me, "no, I do not know that animal, but we know the Perro de agua". This is how the otter is known in the region, and it translates to water dog in English. I would reply with “that species! have you seen it?” and to my great disappointment when they would often tell me “Yes, I know that animal. I do not want it because it eats everything from the river. I am very good at killing water dogs - if I see a water dog, I kill a water dog”.
That comment made me worry, as I was just getting to know the species in the region and it was already seen as a big threat. So, I decided that during my master's studies at the Tropical Research Center (CITRO) in Xalapa, I would work with this species. Here I addressed the monitoring of the species with camera traps, which allowed me to find some adult individuals and pups, inspiring me for the work even further. I also searched for spraint and tracks, with biotic and abiotic variables being taken. The presence of the otter was related to these variables and it is essential to know the most important variables for their existence and their main living sites. In addition, interviews were conducted to learn about the biology, ecology and threats to the species and all this information served as the basis for environmental education workshops in schools in the region.
Do you have a particular “favourite” moment that you experienced during your work with otters?
Yes. My favourite moment was when I checked the camera traps for the first time. My parents were with me on that occasion. I changed the SD memory stick and right there I checked the pictures. I had taken 34 videos in the first month and right on video number 14, there was an adult female otter running towards the water accompanied by two otter cubs. I felt very excited and inspired to keep working with more and more enthusiasm. That scene became commonplace, but no less important or exciting.
You are obviously an incredibly talented artist, and we are fortunate to have some of your illustrated works at IOSF headquarters. Why do you think art can be such an important tool in conservation?
I think art is one of the most important tools to be able to express ourselves; and through it we can generate different emotions such as positive, negative, sadness, happiness, anger. Therefore, I believe that with art we can sensitize people. For example, in my work I try to show everything that we don't know is there, like beautiful animals in different categories of the endangered species list. Sometimes this creates a scene that we would not be able to see in nature, but we can see in this work. This can help species that we can still see on, in and around the Atoyac River and that need our help to continue existing.
The winning artwork by Luis!
In Mexico, what are the greatest concerns for their survival?
Undoubtedly, the contamination of aquifers. Wastewater and industrial waste end up modifying the physical-chemical characteristics of the water, acidifying the water and causing the tolerance threshold of many species to be exceeded. This is minimizing the number of species that exist there, and is directly affecting the otter. Also, when the number of fish present is reduced for these reasons, the otter is singled out as the main culprit and this is where conflicts of interest begin, ultimately resulting in the otter being hunted.
And how do you think these threats can be reduced and help otters as a result?
Awareness is one of the most important parts of achieving effective conservation efforts at any site. Getting timely information about the sites and the threats to both the ecosystem, and to people, by understanding the local context. This, to me, is the most important part of all.
Working with the communities and make any issues heard. You can't conserve what you don't know exists, and I firmly believe that knowing the local community and them knowing the local context is the key to any conservation effort.
What is the future for Luis and otters?
I will continue to dedicate my time and love to otters, as they are my great fascination. I aim to study them, understand them and admire them more and more. Every time I study them I feel as if I am studying myself and wherever I go, I try to carry the message that otters are not only an elusive and beautiful species, but that they are a species that needs us to continue to prioritise having our aquifers with clean water.
I try to draw them and capture them in my work, and finally I try to do events which highlight them. This year we are already planning an event for the World Otter Day in May!
Thank you so much to Luis for answering our questions with some fascinating answers! We hope to bring you more Q&A sessions with our Otter Oscar winners in the near future!