Animal found near water in hot territories (5)
I believe the answer is:
otter
'animal found near water' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both substances as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'in hot territories' is the wordplay.
'in' indicates a hidden word.
'OTTER' is hidden in the letters of 'hot territories'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for otter that I've seen before include "Freshwater brown carnivore" , "Sleek river mammal" , "eg Tarka" , "fish-eater displayed" , "Fur possibly" .)