International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management

additions that can be made to enclosures, are easy and inexpensive to provide and maintain.
E.g. the recommended mulch and soft sand types, qualities, and depths are ideal for both indoor
and outdoor use to cover over inappropriate surfaces such as hard, artificial, tightly
packed/compacted (e.g. soil with/without vegetation), poor draining, and slow drying surfaces.
The required substrates are inexpensive, very effective, easy to care for, remain sanitary, and at
each institution at least one or more of these substrates are easy to acquire. They also can be
easily provided whether the giant otter enclosure is already in use or not and regardless of any
existing surfaces within the enclosure. As well, when land to water ratios provide smaller land
proportions than recommended, pools (obviously if there is more than one pool) can be emptied
or portions of pools can be divided (with waterproof barriers) and filled in with appropriate
substrates to provide enough land area. This will avoid or significantly reduce the chance that
otters will become unhealthy or significantly or fully improve otter health and normality after
problems have developed. The ability to successfully rear cubs or adjust to new/unusual
situations can also be significantly improved. See Chapter 2 Sections 2-3 for more information
on these very important issues.
Improper Introductions of Unfamiliar and Temporarily Separated Otters;
Enclosure Designs That Do Not Offer Parents Rearing Cubs Privacy from Human
Disturbances
Isolating parents from human disturbances (both visual and acoustic) and presence during cubrearing
is also in need of immediate international attention. Fortunately, it has become more
widely accepted that giant otter parents need privacy to successfully rear offspring and methods
to monitor parental care and cub health and development that do not disturb the otters. It is not
uncommon although that enclosures have been designed without these considerations in mind.
It is possible in many cases to modify enclosures after they have been built or at least modify
husbandry methods so that the necessary conditions can be offered. Although in some cases it
may be difficult or impossible to provide privacy (unless enclosures are expansive in size)
because of where the otter enclosure is located within the zoo/institution and/or because of
particular enclosure designs. E.g. other animal enclosures might be adjacent to/adjoining the
otters' enclosure and servicing these other enclosures might disturb the otters. Otter enclosures
may be located in central areas within the zoo/main zoo pathways and therefore visitor/staff
traffic around the otter enclosure might not be able to be prevented. Dens containing nestboxes
might be located next to the only keeper entrance that allows staff access to feed the animals or
service the enclosure. It might be very difficult/impossible to feed the animals or service the
enclosure without disturbing parents rearing their cubs. Giant otter enclosures must be designed
with these considerations in mind to avoid these problems. (Information about this topic is
discussed in Section 2 above and in Chapter 2 Section 10.)
Introducing otters that are unfamiliar with each other and re-introducing those that have been
temporarily separated (i.e. animals that were previously housed together) in a gradual, cautious
and closely monitored manner, with visual-acoustic-olfactory introductions before physical fullcontact
introductions, is also in need of immediate international attention. (Note: when the term
"visual introduction" is used within this manual it actually implies a "visual-acoustic-olfactory
introduction".) Unfortunately, reports of significant injury and death during improperly
conducted giant otter introductions have not been uncommon. I.e. it is not uncommon that
visual introductions have not been conducted before animals were given full physical contact.
Sometimes animals have not been observed and monitored closely enough during visual
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