International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management

depths) or loose enough (e.g. tightly packed/compacted soil) to allow sufficient and easy digging
(both deep and shallow) or full grooming behaviors are sometimes offered. Land with soft loose
soil, but no, not enough, or only small areas of hills for deep digging, are also sometimes offered.
When enclosure terrain is fairly flat and soft loose soil (with/without grass, turf, or vegetation) is
provided, otters will not be able to dig deeply, so hills/banks, with the recommended designs and
substrates, must be provided for this activity when only soil substrate is offered. Otters will/can
not groom on very damp or wet surfaces, whether they are soft and loose or not. See the
introduction above for the inappropriate substrate types, depths, and qualities, land and water
area locations and designs, and locations for nestboxes, dens and areas for natural underground
dens which cause land areas (including sleeping areas) to remain very damp/wet. Small or
limited grooming areas will also remain very damp/wet when they are the only areas offered for
grooming.
Otters either will not or can not use or cannot use without inefficiency, difficulty, lack of
comfort, and/or harm to their physical and/or behavioral health or normality, inappropriate
substrate types, qualities, or depths, or insufficient land or digging areas to dig, groom, play,
exercise, or simply live on. Such land area will not be able to be used to the full extent that
is natural and normal in captivity and the more insufficient these provisions are, the
greater the resulting problems and abnormalities. The giant otters’ enclosure will not be
enriched, positively challenging, or stimulating and it will not offer the appropriate digging,
grooming, and terrestrial playing and exercising opportunities that are necessary to
maintain health in captivity.
The full range or/and extent of goal oriented terrestrial behaviors that giant otters normally could
perform in captivity will decrease and become limited. The most important of their essential
innate terrestrial behaviors will not be encouraged, carried out, or carried out to the full extent
they innately could be. The type, frequency, duration, intensity, and location of the daily
behaviors/activities performed will become unbalanced and abnormal compared to that of a
*healthy captive otter housed in appropriate conditions. There are essentially significantly
fewer alternatives on which their attentions and actions can be healthy and normally directed and
focused on. Digging, grooming, playing and exercising on land, and the amount of time otters
spend on land (vs. in the water)** are the behaviors that will become most often affected in these
negative ways. *Healthy giant otters will perform behaviors to a different extent than an otter
that has not always been exposed to appropriate enclosure conditions. See this discussion
below. **The misinterpretations that can occur during studies/observations evaluating land vs.
water use and aquatic and terrestrial activities are discussed below.
Digging and grooming behaviors will significantly and abnormally decrease in frequency
and duration. The location where these behaviors will be carried out within the enclosure
will become very limited (e.g. to limited or small digging or grooming areas rather than the
entire land area). The amount of time otters play and exercise on land will also significantly
decrease and otters will likely only use limited land areas, rather than the entire land
expanse. [E.g. hard, artificial, or coarse (e.g. pebbles, river rocks or sand/soil mixed with
pebbles, gravel, or small rocks throughout etc.) surfaces are uncomfortable for otters to play and
exercise on. Insufficient land area (size), because of inappropriate land to water ratios, literally
limits the physical space that otters have available to freely play and exercise.] All of these
behaviors will be carried out with decreased intensity. Giant otters will also spend a
significantly greater percentage of their entire day in the water than on land because there
are far fewer opportunities for them to carry out goal-oriented behaviors on land. These
animals will spend less time on land than an otter housed in the recommended conditions. The
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