The species occurs throughout most of tropical and sub-tropical sub-Saharan Africa, being restricted to areas of permanent fresh water, offering good shoreline cover and abundant prey base. Thus, while the distribution range is large, the spatial size of their occupied habitats is much smaller and faces continued loss particularly due to the widespread habitat destruction and pollution reported for much of the African continent (Ponsonby et al. 2016). The impact of global climate change throughout Africa (Magadza 1994, Dixon et al. 2003, Hendrix and Glaser 2007, Cianfrani et al. 2018) also has the potential of decreasing suitable habitat for otters and increasing human-otter conflict for increasingly scarce resources such as water, land, and fish. Both this decrease in suitable habitat and increase in humanotter conflict are currently occurring and will certainly increase over the next three generations. This reassessment is based on a perceived (in regions where studies have been conducted) (Akpona et al. 2011, Akpona et al. 2015, Dognimon et al. 2019, Reed-Smith in prep.) and assumed (in regions where no studies have been done) population decline over the last 16 years and beyond. In much of their range, populations of Spotted-necked Otters are faced with habitat loss or degradation, polluted waters, and/or degraded aquatic ecosystems due to the introduction of exotic species such as Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and Nile Perch (Lates niloticus) and marginal agricultural practices. This habitat disturbance is exacerbated by poor sanitation infrastructure and growing industrial pollution. Additionally, the regional human populations are poverty-stricken, thereby, increasing pressure on all natural resources including water, vegetation, otters’ prey base, as well as reducing suitable resting and denning sites vital to the survival of the species. For all the above reasons and the lack of effective conservation measures, currently a continued decline in the overall Spotted-necked Otter population of at least 20% is suspected for the next three generations (23 years; Pacifici et al. 2013). Therefore, the species is listed as Near Threatened as it almost qualifies as threatened under criterion A3cde; this is a precautionary listing.