International Giant Otter Studbook Husbandry and Management

esponsible for the occurrence of this problem in addition to or independent of the enclosure
conditions. A complete nutritional analysis to determine if the diet fed before Feb. 1997 could
have caused a problem, has not yet been made. The significant exposure that the affected
animal had to hard surfaces at Dortmund could have been responsible for causing his acute
severe walking difficulties. It is not known if the diet could have been responsible in this case.
Two (at Dortmund & Chestnut) of the three affected otters were not exposed to stairs within any
of their enclosures and these otters did not encounter other structures/surfaces where they had to
regularly climb on to access or utilize it. I.e. the otters had no surfaces that would have caused
problems if they were to climb on it. Although, at Philadelphia Zoo the giant otters were
exposed to various areas within their indoor building that they had to regularly climb to access
and use. A link can not be made between the amount of climbing that was carried out among
the three affected otters. Two (at Dortmund & Philadelphia) of the three affected otters were
kept in enclosures where the majority of the land area was made of hard surfaces, therefore they
had significant exposure to hard surfaces. The third otter (at Chestnut) was housed on soft
surfaces. A link can not be made between the amount of exposure that these three animals had
to hard surfaces. Each of the three otters were fed a different diet. Nutritional analysis has not
been conducted on all three of the affected otters’ diets for comparison, the diets although seem
to be diverse enough (i.e. in simply the types of fish that were fed) that an obvious and quick
link can not be made between the diets at a gross level.
Watery Eyes: It has been observed that in captivity giant otters’ eyes can appear significantly
more watery when they are under stress as opposed to when they are in typical/usual situations
(theory posed by C. Schenck via pers. comm. and observations made by Sykes-Gatz & Gatz).
Note: sometimes, their eyes become a little watery when they are under normal circumstances.
The otters tear clear liquid when their eyes are watery as described. (When giant otters are
exceedingly stressed they have been observed to foam at the mouth; see above under “Foaming
at the Mouth”.) Any unusual discharge, whether clear or mucous-like in appearance, from the
eyes should be evaluated to determine if a medical problem exists. E.g. a reaction to
environmental factors, such as irritation from chlorine or other chemicals in pool water, or a
health problem, such as an infection, heart problem etc., could exist.
Part B. Reproductive, Physical & Behavioral Characteristics
The physical and behavioral development of cubs, cub health, parental behavior, and
reproductive characteristics that can be monitored without human disturbance and presence to
giant otters rearing cubs in captivity should be thoroughly documented and shared by each
institution holding giant otters. Other biological (i.e. physiological etc.), physical, and
behavioral characteristics of this species should also be recorded and shared. As well, the same
should be carried out for each wild orphaned and captive-born individual handreared (see
Section 5 below for more information). Otters should not be anesthetized and no other
potentially stressful, harmful, or dangerous methods (to both otters and staff) should be used for
the specific and sole purpose of gathering such information. Information should only be
gathered through unintrusive monitoring methods, husbandry training, when animals are
handreared, or when the otter has been anesthetized for some other reason (e.g. for a medical
emergency). [Anesthetizing could be very dangerous to the otter. It is recommended that it
only be carried out when it is absolutely crucial and necessary to ensure the survival of the
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