International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management

Caution must be taken as initial (e.g. in the first days or longer) positive reactions during
visual and full-contact introductions can be very misleading. For example, at first or in the
early stages during visual introductions the otters may seem very compatible and may behave
like they want to be in full contact with the other in a positive way. Sometimes, the otters may
also display that they are stressed because they are separated. (Animals that are separated can
become stressed because of the separation alone. If they had previously been housed together
the stress would likely be very significant, esp. if they were more recently separated.) If
although, they were let together too soon they might fight, injure or try to kill each other. Full
contact should not be initiated too soon after visual introductions are started. (Note: in some
cases, unnecessarily long visual introductions may cause undue stress and problems, so caution
should be taken in this regard as well.) As well, during the first day/days of full-contact
introductions otters may seem compatible for a short time just after the contact session is
started (e.g. the first 20 minutes), but then they may begin to seriously fight afterwards. In these
cases, otters should be given limited periods of full contact together (e.g. a 20 minute
introduction could be started with, then the next day it could be increased to a one-hour
introduction etc.). When stress seriously or continually escalates, otters become very tired, or
one otter tries to get away from the other and the other otter does not let the first alone, the fullcontact
introduction should be stopped for the day. Otters should be separated before serious
physical fights develop. Full-contact should be re-tried the next day or be stopped for a while,
to allow more visual introduction before full-contact time to occur. Gradually, depending on the
successfulness of the previous introduction, full-contact time-allotments should be slowly
increased each following day. Caretakers should be very cautious not to make the decision
of leaving animals together permanently (or even for their first over-night stay together)
too soon, as this may lead to serious problems.
Some otters, after a week or two of visual introduction, have been able to be kept together
permanently after their first day of full-contact introduction. It is important to note that
sometimes, even in these cases, tension, stress, and minor fights have been observed to
occur on the first contact day (e.g. for the first 3 hours) (Sykes-Gatz and Gatz, pers. obs.,
Dortmund Zoo). Caretakers should allow some minor fights and tension to be carried out
rather than separating the otters upon these developments. This way the otters will be
allowed a full chance to work out any minor problems, differences, or dominance uncertainties
they may have, and they can adjust to each other’s particular character/personality. If otters are
obviously successfully partnered, then unnecessarily separated, this may cause undue stress and
problems, so caution should be taken in these regards as well.
Note: when giant otters are separated from their family members or familiar partners (or even
separated unfamiliar animals), but are still in visual-olfactory-acoustic contact with the animal/s
that they have been separated from, the following can occur. They will likely for a time
excessively dig on/into land surfaces immediately adjacent to the containment barriers that
allow vision etc. and dig directly on such containment barriers (e.g. fence) in attempts to dig out
or through to the otter/s that have been separated. This should not be confused with the
behavior of excessively digging throughout the entire enclosure land area to relieve their stress.
It is necessary that nearly the entire (including the area next to the containment barriers that
might be dug into) or all of the enclosure is covered with soft loose substrates and deep digging
areas are provided as recommended, so that otters can not only relieve their stress, but they can
also avoid damaging their feet. See Chapter 2 Sections 3A-B.
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