An aerial view of the "otter canteen" on Zhoushan's Jintang Island. [Photo/Tide News]

Jintang Island in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, has launched a new eco-educational tourism program featuring an otter science center and an "otter canteen", offering participants hands-on experiences in wildlife conservation.

The island has one of Zhejiang's highest densities of Eurasian otters, with at least 50 individuals currently recorded. In February, the Jintang Otter-Friendly Community Conservation Area, home to the otter canteen, was selected as a potential Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECM) case in China, highlighting coexistence between humans and near-threatened species in urban and rural environments.

The new program recreates the daily work of frontline otter conservation teams, allowing participants to visit the science center to learn about otter biology and behavior, conduct wildlife-tracking surveys along the Daliu River, and make plaster footprint models.

The course also includes setting up and analyzing infrared monitoring cameras, observing fish samples collected from the otter canteen, and studying otter feces to understand feeding habits. At least six otters have visited the feeding site, with two to three regularly appearing at night.

Open to groups for booking year-round, the program aims to support the development of Jintang's "Otter Island" ecological tourism brand and explore ways to combine biodiversity conservation with rural development.