International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management

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Not all aspects of husbandry and management are presented within this manual or some have only been covered in brief. Quarantine, capture, anesthesia, biological (e.g. physiological) and natural history information has been gathered and is available currently by request. (Please contact the author/compiler of this manual for such information.) These topics will be presented or expanded upon in a future edition. Future editions will also include information on what zoos/institutions can do to further support conservation efforts and increase public awareness about this endangered species and its habitat. Both metric and U.S. units of measure are presented adjacent to each other. P. brasiliensis will be referred to as “giant otter” throughout the text. Sheila Sykes-Gatz: International Giant Otter Studbook Keeper (Zoo Dortmund); IUCN/SSC Otter Specialist Group / Focal Point for Giant Otters in Captivity. Zoo Dortmund: Consultant for Giant Otter Husbandry, Management & Research; Affiliate of Philadelphia Zoo (U.S.). Mailing Address: Zoo Dortmund, Mergelteichstr. 80; 44225 Dortmund; Germany. E-mail: v.gatz@cityweb.de or sheilasykes@hotmail.com Home Office: Tel./Fax: +49 231 432946 8
Contributing Institutions/Individuals and Acknowledgments Without the information provided by the “South American Giant Otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) Husbandry, Management, and Historical Census Survey” (Sykes 1997-99) respondents and all those who contributed information in the years during and following the survey period, this manual and its guidelines would not have been possible. These persons and institutions are listed below. Their invaluable contributions and time are greatly appreciated. South America Argentina: Buenos Aires Zoo: Information relayed by Dr. Lorenzo von Fersen and Lic. N. Luis Jacome. Bolivia: Santa Cruz Zoo: Information relayed by Nan Swannie, Jens Sigsgard, and Nicole Martinez. Brazil: CPPMA (Aquatic Mammal Research Center), UHE Balbina: Dra. Stella Maris Lazzarini. Information also relayed by Helen Waldemarin, Wedina Bareto, and Daniel Louzada da Silva. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia/Laboratório de Mamíferos Aquáticos (INPA): Dr. Vera da Silva; Dr. Fernando Rosas. Information also relayed by Daniel Louzada da Silva. Jardim Zoologico de Brasília (Brasilia Zoo): (Staff until 1998: Daniel Louzada da Silva, Tatiana Lucena Pimentel (Veterinarian), Curator: Keila Macfadem Juarez, Marcelo Lima Reis, Adriona Sartori de Almeida Santos.) Current staff: Director: Raul Gonzales Acosta; Assistant Director: Clea Lucia Magalhaes; Curator: Adriana Bocchiglieri; Biologist and International Giant Otter Studbook Keeper: Marcelo Lima Reis; Wedina Bareto. Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi (MPEG) (Belem Zoo): Paulo Henrique Gomes de Castro (Former Veterinarian). Antonio Messias Costa (Current Veterinarian). Information also relayed by Helen Waldemarin, Wedina Bareto, and Daniel Louzada da Silva. Museu Goeldi also associated with Criatorio Crocodilo Safari: Director: Antonio Messias Costa. This private facility also held giant otters from Belem Zoo. Information also relayed by Helen Waldemarin. Zoológico da Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (Cuiaba Zoo): Itamar Camaragibe Lisboa Assumpção. Information also relayed by Daniel Louzada da Silva. Zoológico Municipal de Curitiba (Curitiba Zoo): Maria Lúcia F. Gomes. Information also relayed by Daniel Louzada da Silva. Parque Ecológico Municipal De Americana (Americana Zoo): Director: João C. Tancredi. Information also relayed by Daniel Louzada da Silva. Parque Zoologico Municipal Quinzinho de Barros (Sorocaba Zoo): Veterinarian: Rodrigo Teixeira, Biologist: Cecilia Pessutti. Information also relayed by Daniel Louzada da Silva and Wedina Bareto. 9
Page 1 and 2: International Giant Otter Studbook
Page 3 and 4: Dear reader, With this, the second
Page 5 and 6: Section 2 Introduction to Substrate
Page 7 and 8: Parental Behavior Overview.........
Page 9: Introduction This manual is a secon
Page 13 and 14: Dortmund Zoo: Current Director: Dr.
Page 15 and 16: Giant Otter Characteristics (The fo
Page 17 and 18: Chapter 1 Husbandry and Management
Page 19 and 20: informal international network has
Page 21 and 22: are only released into the wild, th
Page 23 and 24: malfunctions, due to severe inbreed
Page 25 and 26: maturity (i.e. at 2 years old), the
Page 27 and 28: emaining 3 institutions bred otters
Page 29 and 30: elow 240 m² (2,583.4 ft²) in size
Page 31 and 32: difficulties/abnormalities to a mod
Page 33 and 34: are to the water, but it is also de
Page 35 and 36: deep digging areas as recommended,
Page 37 and 38: greater problems. I.e. the ability
Page 39 and 40: additions that can be made to enclo
Page 41 and 42: (esp. around approx. 10 to 11 years
Page 43 and 44: Hagenbecks Tierpark Giant Otter Vac
Page 45 and 46: Dietary Related Problems: Diarrhea
Page 47 and 48: times over 10 years) then disappear
Page 49 and 50: Thyroid Malfunctions: see Chapter 1
Page 51 and 52: unpublished report 1997). His hind
Page 53 and 54: vitamin B 1 tablet and one 400 IU v
Page 55 and 56: otters were exposed to in their enc
Page 57 and 58: animal, e.g. for serious/life threa
Page 59 and 60: conditions/problems can be identifi
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that the otters are very familiar a
Page 63 and 64:
Section 5 Handrearing Captive-Born
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Chapter 5 for how to measure, Chapt
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proper authorities (i.e. park offic
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oth cubs were adopted by a wild ott
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Chapter 2: Husbandry and Management
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The following conditions (i.e. Numb
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The provision of the conditions lis
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proportionately increased and the w
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does not offer the same advantages
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*Note: Duplaix’s guidelines for o
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dry easily, drain well, and be resi
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It is necessary that every indoor a
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Deep Digging Area Necessary For Eac
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play, exercise etc. on. Note: when
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Cleaning Procedures for Substrates
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[4”] in width, could be placed 10
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The aforementioned problems are cau
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difficulties/abnormalities involvin
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they could cause similar walking di
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It is not uncommon that pink foot/t
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No additional or detailed informati
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provided as recommended, so that ot
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housed. It also may be that the lon
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or high humidity, esp. extended per
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dry areas in enclosures should also
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These husbandry provisions produce
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underground den building which is a
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more unsuitable the enclosure land
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unfamiliar and temporarily separate
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exposed to similar situations as ju
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inappropriate the enclosure conditi
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study. They also have been successf
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furnishings will also remain drier
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Live growing bamboo springs back up
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Section 5 Locations and Designs for
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all substrates) with/without vegeta
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indoors. Otters can also use each c
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Enclosures between 240 m² to 600 m
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other than substrates, and toys fro
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to help prevent water filtration/dr
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Section 10B discusses the locations
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areas may be sufficient when otters
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their normal daily terrestrial acti
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described below and in Section 12 b
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hear, that even familiar keepers ar
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nervous in behavior even during nor
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expansive enclosures are available
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the husbandry practices recommended
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keep cubs from crawling out (Duplai
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Chapter 1 for studies that should b
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practices and enclosure designs all
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care for the cubs (Schenck & Schenc
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was moved to another enclosure (Gat
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Inbreeding, physical, behavioral, a
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underground dens in this expansive
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Section 12 Natural Underground Dens
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22.34 ft] (11 sites) ; Kabo creek (
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Section 13 Den Construction “Den
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should not be introduced with physi
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door) could instead be made in the
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Section 15 Toys & Methods for Addit
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Although once items such as cardboa
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e designed or modified with these c
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Section 18 Introducing Unfamiliar &
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have been housed together and then
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contact introduction, i.e. to stop
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Section 19 Diet and Feeding Only go
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Cuiaba Zoo in Brazil (Marcato de Ol
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are consumed in varying amounts acc
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Captive giant otters have been obse
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part of the target. The target we u
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to secure the guillotine door with
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it stays close to the target. This
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these births may go undetected. Ult
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those working with her, from being
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ody temperatures to be taken, when
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abnormally frequent or excessive, i
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with a male (other than growing up
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of course, because information rega
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seen entering the shelter alone, bu
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At Hagenbeck Tierpark, Wünnemann (
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52.5 cm [20.6"]. It is assumed that
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cub weight growth curve in Graph 2
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contain glucose rather than sucrose
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and frequency after each toileting/
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Section 4 Toileting: To produce eli
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when no other better formula is ava
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prepared artificial milk replacers
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avoid dietary problems and help cub
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formula is accomplished. When cubs
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suggested above. The same feeding f
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successfully can often be difficult
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should then be allowed to lick the
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The general guideline that food/for
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very gently dipped in the bowl into
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enough), and explore while under su
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dig into, well-draining etc.) are n
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ecome healthy and their housing can
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Section 16 Companion Cubs and Handr
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Cubs must exercise and explore to p
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Table 3 : Summary of the internatio
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Table 5 : International giant otter
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Days/ Months Sex Weight/Length (ent
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Table 7: Adult Giant Otter Weights
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Graph 2 : Giant Otter Cub Weight Gr
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Duplaix, N. 1980. Observations on t
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asiliensis, Gmelin, 1788) No Zooló
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Otter Colloquium Pietermaritzburg 1
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International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management

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