International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management

12 weeks old:
Killed canine distemper vaccine (Behring-Werke)
Killed canine parvovirus vaccine (Candur P; Hoechst Roussel Vet AG)
16 weeks old*:
*No cub at Dortmund was vaccinated at this age as none lived longer than 100 days, although if
they survived they would have been vaccinated as follows.
Killed canine distemper vaccine (Behring-Werke)
Killed canine parvovirus vaccine (Candur P; Hoechst Roussel Vet AG)
1 year old and annually thereafter:
Killed canine distemper vaccine (Behring-Werke)
Killed canine parvovirus vaccine (Candur P; Hoechst Roussel Vet AG)
Additional Health Problems / Topics of Giant Otters
A brief overview of additional health problems / topics of giant otters held in captivity are
reported below.
Accidental Deaths/Injuries: A giant otter died after it climbed a 2m high fence and fell from
this height to a concrete floor (Trebbau 1972). A solitary adult giant otter was attacked and
wounded by a nesting female spectacled caiman sharing its zoo exhibit. The animal received a
wound on its rear flank that was treated with an antibiotic powder before being stitched closed.
The otter fully recovered after medical treatment and thereafter caimans were no longer housed
with any giant otters (Taggart pers. comm.). An approx. 3 month old cub suffocated in a plastic
cup (Flügger 1997). A visitor fed a giant otter a toxic substance, causing its death (Trebbau
1972).
Anesthesia: Anesthetizing can be very dangerous to the otter and it is only recommended to be
carried out when it is absolutely necessary (e.g. for serious/life threatening health problems,
when necessary medical treatment can be administered in no other way). For example, at least
two giant otters were known to have died because of problems caused by anesthesia and at least
two more were reported to have serious problems caused by anesthesia. E.g. one giant otter
died during recovery from anesthesia after it was anesthetized to crate it for transport to another
institution. Also, another giant otter, anesthetized for a medical procedure, had an excessively
long recovery period (i.e. the period when the animal was coming out of anesthesia). When
giant otters are anesthetized “Caution must be exercised because otters go into respiratory arrest
easily.” (Pimentel, Reis & Passerino, unpublished manuscript). See Part C below for how some
husbandry procedures could be conducted via husbandry training rather than by anesthetizing.
Information on anesthesia (e.g. anesthetic drug types that have been successfully used on giant
otters etc.) is available upon request, please contact the author/compiler of this manual.
A blocked urethra caused the death of one male orphaned wild otter cub (Lazzrini 1998, pers.
comm.).
Dental Problems: Gingivitis and calculus with loss of teeth was reported in a 6 year old otter in
a Brazilian zoo (Vera da Silva, pers. comm.). A broken and chipping tooth was removed in a
zoo otter (Dominguez, pers. comm.).
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