International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management

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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 114
more unsuitable the enclosure land area, the more time otters will spend in the water vs. on the land. There is simply less for them to do on land in these poorly enriched and less stimulating and challenging environments. The otters have no area where they can fully carry out their most important natural terrestrial behaviors and this constitutes a significant proportion of the giant otters’ daily goal oriented activities. Without these activities, non/less directed, intentional, or goal oriented behaviors, which are unhealthy, will be performed as substitute. Giant otters will swim aimlessly or swim pace in the water rather than walk aimlessly or pace on land. Swimming aimlessly means that the otter is swimming without real purpose to accomplish something. E.g. it is not swimming to exercise, play/interact with other otters, catch fish, etc.. When giant otters behave in the aforementioned ways in captivity, they are not carrying out their behaviors in a normal and healthy way compared to captive otters that can carry out their behaviors to the full extent, therefore these animals, in comparison to the aforementioned otters, are not exhibiting normal and healthy behavior. Unfortunately giant otters are not uncommonly reported to behave as such, therefore a significant number of institutions mistakenly assume that this is an exhibition of normal and healthy behavior in captivity. Observations of giant otters held in partially, or even totally, inadequate enclosure conditions as described or of otters that have not recovered to full health because they have been exposed to appropriate enclosure conditions for only part of their life (see below), have often caused these misconceptions. Otter enclosures are often designed and furnished with these misconceptions, as well as the misconception that river otters are aquatic mammals, in mind. Giant otters are reacting in these ways because their enclosures do not offer land area where they can/will carry out digging, grooming, playing, and exercising on land to the full extent. The entire land area can not be used in the way that is necessary to maintain normal healthy behavior. I.e. inadequate environments do not offer sufficient area on which otters can focus on or divert their attentions and actions to in a healthy and normal manner. When the behaviors, that are among the most important needed to help prevent, counteract, or significantly reduce the chance that negative reactions develop (i.e. stress, boredom, nervousness, fear, frustration etc.), become severely impaired, the chance that negative responses will occur are significantly increased. I.e. because the otters can not carry out digging, grooming, playing, and exercising on land to the full extent, their opportunities to focus/divert their attentions and actions away from the stressful, frustrating, frightening, or uninteresting situations that can occur during typical daily, new/unusual, or cub-rearing situations, are significantly limited. The negative responses that can develop or abnormally elevate in such circumstances cannot therefore be significantly reduced/counteracted, when the otters focus on the stressful etc. situations. Abnormally elevated and excessive levels of negative responses can occur when the recommended enclosure conditions are not offered. The more inappropriate the enclosure conditions, the more limited their opportunities are to carry out normal healthy behavior, the less the ability they have to counteract/reduce the negative responses, and the greater the resulting health problems. As a result, mental/behavioral health problems (in addition to the abnormalities) have occurred, among a significant number of giant otters, in typical daily circumstances in varying intensities from mild to severe. Stereotypical behaviors (esp. swim pacing), less/non directed or non-goal oriented behaviors (esp. swimming aimlessly/without purpose sometimes to an excessive extent), frustration, stress, tension, very dulled/lack of alertness, attentiveness, and curiosity, depression, dulled responsiveness, nervousness, fear of change, and other abnormal behaviors have occurred. Additionally, as a result, the negative 115
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International Giant Otter Studbook
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Dear reader, With this, the second
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Section 2 Introduction to Substrate
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Parental Behavior Overview.........
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Introduction This manual is a secon
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Contributing Institutions/Individua
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Dortmund Zoo: Current Director: Dr.
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Giant Otter Characteristics (The fo
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Chapter 1 Husbandry and Management
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informal international network has
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are only released into the wild, th
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malfunctions, due to severe inbreed
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maturity (i.e. at 2 years old), the
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emaining 3 institutions bred otters
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elow 240 m² (2,583.4 ft²) in size
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difficulties/abnormalities to a mod
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are to the water, but it is also de
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deep digging areas as recommended,
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greater problems. I.e. the ability
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additions that can be made to enclo
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(esp. around approx. 10 to 11 years
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Hagenbecks Tierpark Giant Otter Vac
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Dietary Related Problems: Diarrhea
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times over 10 years) then disappear
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Thyroid Malfunctions: see Chapter 1
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unpublished report 1997). His hind
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vitamin B 1 tablet and one 400 IU v
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otters were exposed to in their enc
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animal, e.g. for serious/life threa
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conditions/problems can be identifi
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that the otters are very familiar a
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Section 5 Handrearing Captive-Born
Page 65 and 66: Chapter 5 for how to measure, Chapt
Page 67 and 68: proper authorities (i.e. park offic
Page 69 and 70: oth cubs were adopted by a wild ott
Page 71 and 72: Chapter 2: Husbandry and Management
Page 73 and 74: The following conditions (i.e. Numb
Page 75 and 76: The provision of the conditions lis
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Page 81 and 82: *Note: Duplaix’s guidelines for o
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Page 85 and 86: It is necessary that every indoor a
Page 87 and 88: Deep Digging Area Necessary For Eac
Page 89 and 90: play, exercise etc. on. Note: when
Page 91 and 92: Cleaning Procedures for Substrates
Page 93 and 94: [4”] in width, could be placed 10
Page 95 and 96: The aforementioned problems are cau
Page 97 and 98: difficulties/abnormalities involvin
Page 99 and 100: they could cause similar walking di
Page 101 and 102: It is not uncommon that pink foot/t
Page 103 and 104: No additional or detailed informati
Page 105 and 106: provided as recommended, so that ot
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Page 113 and 114: These husbandry provisions produce
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Page 121 and 122: exposed to similar situations as ju
Page 123 and 124: inappropriate the enclosure conditi
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Page 127 and 128: furnishings will also remain drier
Page 129 and 130: Live growing bamboo springs back up
Page 131 and 132: Section 5 Locations and Designs for
Page 133 and 134: all substrates) with/without vegeta
Page 135 and 136: indoors. Otters can also use each c
Page 137 and 138: Enclosures between 240 m² to 600 m
Page 139 and 140: other than substrates, and toys fro
Page 141 and 142: to help prevent water filtration/dr
Page 143 and 144: Section 10B discusses the locations
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Page 161 and 162: Chapter 1 for studies that should b
Page 163 and 164: practices and enclosure designs all
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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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