International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management

are only released into the wild, therefore they are not included within this studbook. In
Trinidad, a single male is kept at the Emperor Valley Zoo in Port of Spain. Attempts to acquire
a female have not been successful so far (Ali, pers. comm.; Jacques, pers. comm. 2001). In
Venezuela, five zoos are known to keep single males while one zoo keeps two females together.
One non-breeding pair is kept at the Valencia Aquarium (Richardson & Raines, pers. comm.
2003; Jacques, pers. comm. 2001; Bartmann, pers. comm. 1998).
Currently, only eleven (6.5) giant otters are held in zoos outside of South America.
Unfortunately, 5.4 of these individuals are all very closely related (i.e. all are descended from
the Brasilia Zoo bloodline). Until recently (when Dallas World Aquarium acquired 1.1 otters
from Venezuela in 7/02, and Dortmund and Philadelphia Zoo each acquired 0.1 from Brasilia
Zoo in late 2002), and despite many efforts, the process of acquisition has failed for all zoos
outside of South America since 1988 (Gatz & Sykes-Gatz, pers. comm.).
Nine of the otters currently held outside of South America are all closely related, as the
following explains. Hagenbecks Tierpark (Germany) is the only zoo outside of South America
that has successfully reared giant otter cubs (7.2 total). It was discovered afterwards that the
parents of these cubs descended from two generations of inbreeding. The mother died in 1994.
The surviving cubs, now mid-aged to old adults, and their father and uncle (both the oldest
living giant otters known i.e. 16 years old), live at Philadelphia Zoo in USA (1.0), Chestnut
Centre in England (0.1) (their 1.0 died recently), Duisburg Zoo (1.0), and Dortmund Zoo (3.1)
in Germany. The two females were paired with their brothers, as no other otters were available.
In late 2002, Philadelphia Zoo exchanged a male, born at Hagenbecks Tierpark, for a female
born at Brasilia Zoo and Dortmund Zoo acquired a female from Brasilia Zoo. Unfortunately,
both of these newly acquired females are partly related to the otters born at Hagenbecks
Tierpark and no other choice was available but to mate them with the otters born at Hagenbeck.
Individuals still must be acquired from and exchanged with other zoos to help prevent further
inbreeding by attaining new genetic bloodlines.
One important goal of this studbook is to promote responsible genetic management of the
captive population. It is crucial that all institutions holding giant otters thoroughly record and
openly share information as recommended and be open and willing to exchange otters with /
transfer otters to those zoos that fulfill the requirements listed in the “Synopsis” above. This is
necessary to help create genetically sound and successful pairings/re-pairings, minimize
inbreeding, and increase the number of potential breeding pairs in attempts to increase the
number of captive born animals. The reduction of the number of giant otters that are held singly
can also help to avoid the occurrence of mental / behavioral problems caused by holding solitary
animals. The ultimate goal of creating a healthy self-sustaining captive giant otter population
will only be possible when the aforementioned actions are carried out.
Census records that should be kept for every individual born/acquired include individual
identification and sex, identification of the dam & 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/litter that a parent sired or gave birth to and any
suspected pregnancies/births and reasons for the death of each cub/litter. Medical, physical,
and behavioral information on each individual held should also be recorded. Expanded detailed
census, age, family heritage/origin, and reproductive information can then be collected and
analyzed. Individual behavioral assessments / reports (i.e. identifying dominant / submissive
animals, animals with poor parenting skills, etc.) can also help to aid successful introductions
and cub-rearing success.
19