International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management

3 below.) E.g. the otters' ability to successfully rear cubs has been adversely affected or
seriously compromised in the aforementioned enclosure conditions. (This not only includes the
ability of parents, but also any older siblings that might be present during cub-rearing. I.e. older
siblings help to care for their younger siblings.) This is because these inappropriate enclosure
conditions caused abnormally elevated or excessive levels of stress during cub-rearing. As well,
cub illness and death have occurred when enclosure surfaces remained very damp/wet because
of inappropriate substrates and/or land to water ratios. (Note: other inappropriate land and
water area locations and designs and unsuitable locations for nestboxes and dens have also
caused or worsened health problems already resulting from the unsuitable conditions described
in the beginning of this paragraph.) It is essential that all zoos/institutions modify or design and
furnish their giant otter enclosures so that the basic necessities (that are needed to maintain
physical, mental, and behavioral health and promote successful cub-rearing and help otters
successfully adjust to new/unusual situations) are provided. These basic necessities are usually
simple and inexpensive to provide whether the enclosure is already in use or not.
Cub, juvenile, and sub-adult deaths that resulted from medical illnesses not related to those
caused by human disturbances have been numerous and they remain a problem. In addition to
the cub mortality phases aforementioned, deaths also occurred from medical illnesses when
giant otters were between 4 months to around 12 months old. [Because of these deaths, which
were not numerous, but still problematic (esp. considering their late development), giant otters
are considered successfully reared when they reach one year of age or older.] This aspect is
largely unstudied on an international level, so it is crucial that this be researched. The affects of
severe inbreeding (i.e. inherited thyroid malfunctions that resulted in litter losses) should also be
given immediate international attention. (The total number of cubs born live at the institution
with severe inbreeding represents a significant number of cub losses (12%) compared to the
historical number of cubs born worldwide). It is hoped that the developed husbandry and
management recommendations will help to address, increase awareness of and information
sharing on, and promote research into these problems. (See Section 4 for vaccination and
disease prevention methods/problems.)
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. It is therefore not
advisable to keep otters in the aforementioned situations (see specific examples for these
occurrences in Chapter 2 Section 10).
Many factors, see below and Chapter 2 Section 10, can affect how successfully juvenile and
sub-adult siblings (and adult siblings) are able to co-exist with and help care for their younger
siblings, this therefore affects cub-rearing success. The success of the few institutions
(Corredor, pers. comm. 2003, Brasilia Zoo, pers. comm. 2002, Flügger 1997) which have
experienced this situation has shown that more cubs have died in such situations than survived.
(See Chapter 2 Section 10 for details.) It is therefore advisable to remove cubs from the parents
when the cubs reach 6 months old. Although, because of limited available data and limited
experiences a guideline cannot yet be made. In an ideal situation, it would be advantageous for
cubs to remain with their family group until they are two years old. Helping to replicate the
natural social structure found in the wild would provide the maturing cubs and parents with a
more natural, enriched, and stimulating environment. If new litters were born, this would allow
otters from previous litters to gain experience helping to rear cubs, which would be highly
beneficial towards their own parenting skills later on in life. When cubs reached sexually
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