International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management
International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management
International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management
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offered. I.e. it is only necessary to correct the conditions that are responsible for causing their<br />
abnormalities <strong>and</strong> unhealthiness <strong>and</strong> no other techniques are needed.<br />
The otters that do not recover to 100% health <strong>and</strong> normality, because they do not carry out<br />
all of their essential terrestrial behaviors to the full extent they innately could, are<br />
unfortunately sometimes misinterpreted as being a totally healthy otter. This behavior<br />
should although not be considered normal, but rather an animal that is displaying a very<br />
significant improvement in mental <strong>and</strong> behavioral health. Because a very significant, rather than<br />
full recovery, may occur this should not be considered as a reason to not provide the necessary<br />
furnishings <strong>and</strong> designs.<br />
The period of “adjustment”, i.e. how long it takes the otters to activate their innate terrestrial<br />
behaviors, seems to vary upon how much exposure to appropriate conditions the otters<br />
previously had <strong>and</strong> if they were paired with another otter who exhibited “healthy” behaviors. An<br />
otter with more exposure to suitable circumstances in the past or an otter that is paired with<br />
another animal who is completely behaviorally healthy seems to have shorter periods of<br />
adjustment than an otter without these benefits. It seems that the longer that a deprived otter has<br />
lived in suitable enclosures in its past, especially during its development, the more frequently<br />
<strong>and</strong> intensely <strong>and</strong> the longer, it may carry out terrestrial activities, once it is again reintroduced to<br />
a sufficient living area.<br />
Additionally, giant otters who have been offered the recommended enclosure conditions<br />
alone, have been able to make a very significant or full recovery from even the most severe<br />
unhealthy behaviors (see those listed above under negative behaviors occurring in typical daily<br />
circumstances i.e. stereotypical behaviors, very dulled/lack of alertness, attentiveness, <strong>and</strong><br />
curiosity etc.). As well, those recovered animals, who encountered new/unusual situations<br />
after their rehabilitation, had the ability to successfully adjust to these situations without<br />
abnormally elevated or excessive levels of negative responses as they had shown before.<br />
They exhibited the behaviors that a behaviorally healthy otter would display during such a<br />
situation when housed in appropriate conditions. Such furnishings <strong>and</strong> designs as<br />
aforementioned are necessary to promote successful cub-rearing <strong>and</strong> help otters successfully<br />
adjust to new/unusual situations. (These affected animals who recovered had insufficient l<strong>and</strong>,<br />
digging, <strong>and</strong> grooming areas for the majority of their lives. They were kept in enclosures where<br />
the l<strong>and</strong> to water ratios offered significantly smaller l<strong>and</strong> proportions than recommended or/<strong>and</strong><br />
the entire l<strong>and</strong> area or the majority of it was hard (i.e. concrete, tile, etc.). No or very little soft<br />
substrates were offered. This most obviously was the reason for their unhealthy state, as only the<br />
exposure to these conditions corrected, resolved their problems. Either the animals were moved<br />
to a totally new enclosure or conditions were changed within the enclosure they had been living<br />
in.<br />
Although the known number of giant otters that recovered as aforementioned were limited, the<br />
results obviously indicate that the chance that other individuals can make similar recoveries, if<br />
given such an opportunity, is very significant <strong>and</strong> therefore reasonable conclusions can be<br />
drawn. (Four individuals recovered in this matter. At least one other giant otter was known to<br />
have been offered appropriate enclosure conditions after living in inappropriate conditions,<br />
although no reports are known on this otter's recovery. Additionally, the enclosure conditions of<br />
two other otters have been improved, but only partially, <strong>and</strong> reports <strong>and</strong> observations of these<br />
otters show that their behavioral health improved in correlation with the amount of enclosure<br />
condition improvements. These otters although did not recover to the extent of the otters who<br />
were offered completely appropriate conditions. At least two additional giant otters were<br />
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