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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seen entering the shelter alone, but pushed by its mother towards the entrance.…” (Autuori &<br />
Deutsch 1977).<br />
At Dortmund Zoo, both the mother <strong>and</strong> father, together, or only one or the other, would leave<br />
the nestbox with the cubs in it, to get fish. Sometimes the father would bring the mother fish as<br />
well; i.e. he would take the fish into the nestbox <strong>and</strong> place it in front of her (Sykes-Gatz & Gatz<br />
pers. obs.). The parents, either both or one or the other, would also carry the cubs to different<br />
nestboxes occasionally <strong>and</strong> they were not showing stress during these times. Sometimes they<br />
would move the cubs one to three times in a day or not at all during the day. This was observed<br />
with young cubs <strong>and</strong> cubs as old as 2 ½ months old. If the cubs were moved 4 or more times<br />
per day this was considered not normal to excessive behavior (dependent on the frequency<br />
moved <strong>and</strong> in what time period) <strong>and</strong> was caused because parents were stressed by a disturbance<br />
(Sykes-Gatz unpublished report & pers. obs.).<br />
Determining Cub Sex:<br />
At Hagenbeck Tierpark, the cubs’ sex could be determined by week 10 (Hagenbeck &<br />
Wünnemann 1992).<br />
When Parents First Take Cubs To The Water:<br />
<strong>Giant</strong> otter parents expose their cubs to the water, closely monitor <strong>and</strong> stay next to/near their<br />
cubs while they are in the water <strong>and</strong> they teach their cubs how to swim. The training for<br />
swimming can look very rough; i.e. parents will take cubs into the pool, push them underwater<br />
<strong>and</strong> then help bring them back up to the surface again. This is reported in the wild as well as in<br />
captivity.<br />
At Hagenbeck Tierpark, “The parents may start between the 20 th <strong>and</strong> 60th day to take the cubs<br />
to the water. This training looks very rough.” (Wünnemann 1995). Hagenbeck Tierpark also<br />
reports that the parents, especially the father, took the cubs when they were 3-4 weeks old, out<br />
of the den <strong>and</strong> then took them into the water. “So the cubs learned swimming at an extreme<br />
early age.” (Wünnemann 1995 b ).<br />
At Sao Paulo Zoo, the cubs were taken to the water when they were 13 days old. (The parents<br />
were separated after mating, so only the mother reared the cubs.) The cubs were not let go<br />
when they were put in the water at this age. “…when the young were 20 days old, the female<br />
took them, one by one, into the water where she would let them go, staying by their side. On<br />
the first days the small animal is submerged <strong>and</strong> is incapable of coming to the surface. The<br />
female brings it up with one of her front feet, but letting it go soon after. This behavior is<br />
repeated several times until the mother holds the young otter by the scruff of its neck <strong>and</strong> takes<br />
it back into the shelter. Soon afterwards, the mother comes out with another small animal – <strong>and</strong><br />
repeats the procedure as described above. Each young suffers this treatment twice or three<br />
times a day. After a few days the little ariranhas are able to come back to the surface without<br />
any help from their mother. They then are capable of keeping their heads partly out of water but<br />
their whole body remains underwater in a vertical position. The female remains beside the<br />
young animal all the time. The mother then pushes the young one underwater, pressing its head<br />
down by using her front foot <strong>and</strong> thus forcing the small otter to go down under the surface. This<br />
procedure is repeated identically with both young. The small otters started to swim [at 31 days<br />
old] when their bodies maintained a horizontal position. The female swims alongside the young<br />
ariranha <strong>and</strong> forces it to go underwater several times by pushing it down.” (Autuori & Deutsch<br />
1977.)<br />
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