International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management

Section 17
Record Keeping
Record keeping is not only necessary to provide continued adequate care to individual
giant otters, it is also necessary that all institutions worldwide keep and openly share these
records to advance husbandry and management practices, research, and strategies.
Chapter 1 provides a complete overview of which records should be kept and why it is crucial
that they are maintained. Chapter 5 describes in detail the general daily maintenance records
that should be kept during handrearing, although a complete overview of all of the records that
should be maintained during handrearing are discussed in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 Section 10
describes in detail some of the records that are necessary to keep during cub-rearing and Chapter
1 discusses a complete overview and more detailed aspects on many of these issues. The
following is only an overview of which records should be maintained on all of these topics.
Census records that should be kept for every individual that is born and acquired include
individual identification and sex, identification of the dam and sire or location born in the wild,
birth, acquisition, death, and transfer dates and corresponding locations, and reasons for death.
Also needed are complete records on every cub and litter that a parent sired or gave birth to and
any suspected pregnancies and births and reasons for the death of each cub/litter. Dietary,
medical, physical (i.e. body weight, length, and temperature, blood chemistry etc.) and
behavioral information on each individual held should also be maintained. E.g. individual
behavioral assessments / reports (i.e. identifying dominant and submissive animals, animals
with poor parenting skills, etc.) can help to identify individuals that could be most successfully
paired/partnered together and individuals who would make good parents. Cub development
both in parent and handreared cubs, parental behavior and reactions to human disturbances,
trained husbandry behaviors and husbandry and management practices (esp. during parent and
hand-rearing, introductions etc.) should also be recorded. Excess body weight gain or loss and
daily amounts and food types eaten should be monitored and recorded.
It is also important to record the beginning and ending dates at which estrus / mating
behaviors and false pregnancies occurred, as well as when unseen litter births are
suspected. (Estrus/mating usually occurs once every 3 months, post-partum and after litter loss
and records on such occurrences are needed to help determine if the female is pregnant. False
pregnancy reports are not uncommon.) The females’ physical appearance during the
suspected/actual pregnancy, behaviors indicative of birth and pair compatibility should also
be noted. If delayed implantation has occurred or is suspected, details should be recorded.
The following records should be taken and maintained only on cubs that are handreared
and this applies to both wild orphaned cubs and captive born cubs. Parents rearing cubs must
not be disturbed to gather these records. Daily records should be kept on cub weights,
formulas/diets (i.e. dilution, ingredients, preparation), feeding regimens/schedules, beginning
and ending weaning dates, amounts eaten, willingness to eat, elimination, handrearing methods
and tools, health, problems, medications, behavioral and physical developmental progress etc..
Measurement of cub body length should also be recorded and they should be taken at least one
time per week. Body length-weight-age growth curves and behavioral and physical
development records are needed for comparison studies in the wild and in captivity. Many other
handrearing records are also needed to increase overall knowledge.
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