International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management
International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management
International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management
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with a male (other than growing up with their father) before their current pairings. All of the<br />
females are now (at the end of this report) around 3 ½ years old. (None of the males have ever<br />
sired litters or been paired with a female partner before their current partner. Two males are 11<br />
½ years old <strong>and</strong> one male is 4 ½ years old. ) Further research should be carried out <strong>and</strong> a worldwide<br />
survey should be conducted on these matters. It should be determined if there is a trend in<br />
these occurrences <strong>and</strong> what the causes may be.<br />
Gestation, False Pregnancies, Signs of Parturition, Reproductive Capabilities at Late Age,<br />
Litter Births <strong>and</strong> Initial Care:<br />
Gestation usually occurs from 65 to 70 days in captivity (Hagenbeck <strong>and</strong> Wünnemann 1992;<br />
Wünnemann 1995, Trebbau 1978; Autuori & Deutsch 1977). Wünnemann reports that<br />
gestation also occurred from 64 to 71 days (Wünnemann 1995 b ). Gestation was reported to<br />
occur for 77 days (Gatz, pers. comm.) (This happened twice with one captive female <strong>and</strong><br />
gestation was counted from the last day of mating seen. See below.)<br />
False pregnancy reports are not uncommon. A significant number of zoos have reported this<br />
occurrence. <strong>Giant</strong> otters can become enlarged in the abdominal area <strong>and</strong> develop<br />
swollen/extended teats during false pregnancies <strong>and</strong> they, upon this physical condition alone,<br />
appear as if they are pregnant. It is very difficult from visual observations alone to tell if the<br />
animal is actually pregnant. The swelling usually disappears within a few weeks <strong>and</strong> no<br />
evidence of litter birth is found. (Cubs are not heard, seen, <strong>and</strong> no remains of cubs are found<br />
within the parents’ feces or enclosure.) For example, at Sao Paulo Zoo, “Signs of pregnancy<br />
were visible on 2 females (swelling of the abdomen <strong>and</strong> enlarging of the mammillae) but in both<br />
cases the animals got back to their normal state after a few weeks.” (Autuori & Deutsch 1977).<br />
Three false pregnancies, in one female, were confirmed by ultrasound via husb<strong>and</strong>ry training at<br />
Dortmund Zoo. These occurrences should be more thoroughly studied to determine why they<br />
are occurring at this frequency <strong>and</strong> what is causing them to occur. See Chapter 1 Section 4 <strong>and</strong><br />
Chapter 3 for ultrasounding to detect pregnancy <strong>and</strong> why pregnancy detection is so important.<br />
“The gestation period is from 65-70 days. One month before parturition the swelling of the teats<br />
became visible <strong>and</strong> about 14 days before parturition we could see the swelling of the vulva. We<br />
could see no signs indicative of imminent parturition on the day of birth <strong>and</strong> indeed Ottilie took<br />
food just six hours before the birth of her last two litters. Shortly before the births of the litters<br />
in 1988 <strong>and</strong> 1989, Ottilie had ‘adopted’ herrings, taking them carefully between her powerful<br />
jaws <strong>and</strong> placing them near her teats. This apparently maternal behavior, however, did not<br />
inhibit her from eating the fish some hours later. We saw no sign of the behavior being repeated<br />
before the later successful liters….The birth took place in the “early hours of the morning”.<br />
“The first pup was delivered at 0100 hours, the second was stillborn at 0200 <strong>and</strong> the last two<br />
births followed at 0215 <strong>and</strong> 0230 hours. The mother extracted the pups with her mouth, licked<br />
the young, picked them up in her mouth to shake them gently <strong>and</strong> placed them on the teats.<br />
After this initial care, the pups received no further help from the dam <strong>and</strong> always had to reach<br />
the teats by themselves.” (Hagenbeck & Wünnemann 1992).<br />
In addition this female at Hagenbeck Tierpark, gave birth to 10 litters in 4 years <strong>and</strong> 5 months<br />
(i.e. averaging 2 litters per year <strong>and</strong> in one case 3 litters in nearly almost one year i.e. 11 days<br />
short of one year) (Hagenbeck & Wünnemann 1992; Flügger 1997). For example, their female<br />
“…once again had cubs [11-1-92], although she was still raising adolescents….On 2-2-94<br />
Ottilie once again gave birth to 5 pups even though she was still raising one youth.” Flügger<br />
1997). Their only successful breeding female, at 11 years old, developed pyometra during her<br />
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