International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management

then both roll over the sand together. The female tries to escape but the male does not let her
get away. He forces her to get into the water, sometimes pushing her; after several attempts, the
female finally gets in the water, followed by the male. During several minutes the male pursues
the female and finally mounts his mate. The female’s whole body is under water except for her
head. Copulation follows and is of short duration, lasting up to 60 seconds.” (Autuori &
Deutsch 1977). Thirty days after the copulation the female was separated from the male and the
mother reared her litter alone. Note: within this section, all the cub-rearing/parental behaviors
observed at Sao Paulo Zoo, were carried out by the mother only. See the serious problems, such
as litter loss etc., in Chapter 2 Section 10C that can be caused when the parents are not allowed
to rear their cubs together.
At Dortmund Zoo, the giant otters play very roughly (both in the water and on land) about a few
days before mating begins. (I.e. the frequency and intensity of play behaviors is significantly
increased.) They continue this behavior until and throughout the actual mating period. Mating
has been observed to be carried out in the water and on land and it can occur over a 5 to 7 day
period. Copulation is very obvious (i.e. it is not easily missed) and it can occur several times
per day. Estrus can occur once every 3 months, immediately after litter loss, and within the first
week or so just after parturition (i.e. post-partum estrus). At least one occurrence of delayed
implantation was thought to have occurred (Gatz & Sykes-Gatz pers. comm.).
At Hagenbeck Tierpark, “From our observations mating lasts for ten to 30 minutes and pairs
mated several times a day for a period of up to seven days.” (Hagenbeck & Wünnemann 1992).
At Parque del Este (Venezuela) “One morning about 10:30 …the giant otters were copulating.
At 11:00 when I arrived the animals were still active. The male grabs the female by her neck
and brings the base of its tail laterally to the correspondent part of the female…The copulation
movements are fast and intense only during 5 – 10 seconds, several times during the whole
copulation. The animals stay in contact for about 10 minutes. They produce certain grunts
during the act. After the separation, the female pursued the male, overtakes him trying to arise
interest. After a few minutes, the male shows interest and copulates again for some 5 minutes.
After that, they separate and swimming together they play and look for food. Autuori reports
that in his case the male pursued the female. At about 2:30 p.m. they started sexual activities
again. In another occasion it was reported to me, that the pair continued for 3 days in sexual
activities, not taking exact notes on duration, frequency etc. In heat time, we did not notice any
other change in behavior. Food was taken regularly.” (Trebbau, 1978).
Chapter 2 Section 10C describes which situations may be responsible for breeding failure in
captivity. E.g. it may be possible that when siblings from the same litter are reared and reach
sexual maturity together, they will not breed if they are housed together as a potential breeding
pair. It may also be possible, that if unrelated giant otters are reared together or introduced well
before they reach sexual maturity, and they reach sexual maturity together, they will not breed.
Recently it has been reported that a few giant otters that are sexually mature and that have been
paired together for nearly a year or more, have mated, but the females did not become pregnant.
This has occurred at 3 institutions (Philadelphia Zoo, Dallas World Aquarium & Dortmund
Zoo) with 3 different pairs. At least two of these animals have also been reported to display
estrus cycles/mating at unusual intervals. For example, mating occurred and then 2 weeks to
one month later, matings occurred again. On at least one occasion a false pregnancy was
reported with these particular otters. None of these females have ever given birth before they
were mated with their current partners. At least two or all of the females have never been paired
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