International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management

Chapter 4
Reproductive Biology, Cub Development & Parental Behavior
Introduction
Chapter 1 Sections 2, 4 and 5 discuss which aspects of reproduction, physical and behavioral
cub development, cub health, and parental behavior should be documented and shared by each
institution holding giant otters. Also discussed in Chapter 1 are the aspects that need further
study. Only some of these issues are discussed below. Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 Section 10
describe how these aspects can be monitored without disturbing parents rearing their
litters and the cubs. The methods that can be used to determine if females are pregnant (i.e. to
confirm false/true pregnancies etc.), to monitor the females’ reproductive health in old age, and
to attain milk (lactation) samples after litter loss for nutritional content analyses are described in
Chapter 1 Sections 4-5. 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. It
is crucial that every holding institution keeps and openly shares all of the aforementioned
records.
Note:
“Cub” refers to a giant otter that is between approx. one day to six months old.
“Juvenile” refers to a giant otter that is approx. between six months to one year old.
“Sub-adult” refers to a giant otter that is between approx. one year to two years old.
“Successfully reared cub” is a cub that lives to one year or older.
“Successfully reared litter” is where at least one cub in the litter survives to one year old or
older.
Section 1
Mating, Gestation, Cub Development & Parental Behavior in Captivity
Parental Behavior Overview:
Giant otters are highly social and live in family groups. In the wild, mated pairs bond for life
and all family members including offspring, usually 1 to 2 years old, from the parents’ previous
litters help to care for the cubs (Duplaix 1980; Schenck & Schenck 1994). As well, each litter
usually consists of from one to four cubs born one time per year. The cubs are dependent upon
the other family members for care, socialization, learning life skills etc.. In captivity, parents
should be allowed to rear their cubs together as this is normal behavior. Preventing such
activities will likely cause significant problems such as litter loss etc. (see Chapter 2 Section
10C). Both parents will take care of the cubs, teach them how to swim etc. and both will
carry/move them to different nestboxes occasionally. It should not be assumed that because of
certain behaviors, that the presence of fathers during cub-rearing will have a negative impact on
the success of cub-rearing. For example, it seems to be normal, both in captivity and in the wild
(Staib 2002), that fathers will often take cubs out of the den/nestbox and the mothers will
immediately take action to return the cubs to the den/nestbox. When this behavior is not
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