Written and Submitted by Diane Tomecek
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Otter News briefly introduced you to Otto, the North American river otter (NARO) at Denver Zoo, in December during our feature on the Asian Small-clawed otters, Asha and Barry Kirin, of Toyota Elephant Passage. Returning to Otto, we wanted to introduce you to this charismatic North American river otter who has spent most of his life at the zoo enjoying the fine enclosure within Northern Shores.
In October 2012 when Otter News visited with Ashley Snow, one of the staff zookeepers, she spoke first about Ariel, the 18-year-old female NARO who had passed away the previous evening. Ariel had come to the zoo in 2005 and was a rescue from Florida; she had spent time at the Florida Aquarium. Otto is 14 and was feeling a bit out of sorts during our visit; likely not sure where Ariel, his long-time exhibit partner, had gone. Otto is a rescue from Louisiana where he was caught by a trapper and then given to a rehabber. You can see the probable damage caused by being caught in a trap at approximately 3-years of age because he has some nerve damage on his right front paw as well as a few missing toes (as seen in the photo above).
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| Otto with enrichment - a water jug filled with live fish |
Denver Zoo practices enrichment for Otto at random times during the day. He receives burlap bags of varying size and shape, multi-colored plastic balls to play with in the water, as well as a large water jug filled with live fish. Otto’s favorite enrichment has to be the large water jug – he found and consumed the fish almost immediately after Ashley dunked it in the water for him. Enrichment is a key element for a captive animal’s quality of life and Ashley and other staff have developed a number of methods for the North American river otters at the zoo.
Ashley attended an otter keeper workshop and brainstorms with many other otter keepers to create new enrichment ideas to bring to curatorial staff. At Denver Zoo, they have a curator of behavioral husbandry who oversees all training and enrichment at the zoo. The zookeepers bring the curator lots of creative and fun enrichment ideas and then it is her job to approve them based on whether the enrichment will emphasize natural behaviors and be safe for the animals. In fact, Ashley has just recently informed Otter News that a series of enrichment methods have been approved; these items include duck decoys, pvc endcaps, dog beds and aneGGe dog toy.
The enclosure for Otto is quite substantial and he enjoys his 8-foot-deep pool. As discussed in our feature of the Asian Small-clawed otters, the Toyota Elephant Passage exhibit employs a habitat sharing concept for the animals. Since the exhibit’s opening in 2012, staff have been brainstorming ways to potentially incorporate this shared habitat concept throughout the other areas of the zoo. Additionally, because the zoo is on city land, it has limited capacity to expand habitats for other animals, including Otto. Therefore, staff is getting creative, brainstorming many ideas for the exhibit! To create a more natural feel, staff constructed a planter garden atop one of the concrete platform ceilings which goes over Otto’s den.
After discussing the outside habitat, we moved behind the scenes to see where Otto receives training and any necessary medical treatment. The otter keeper workshop and discussions with Denver’s Downtown Aquarium emphasized to Ashley and other staff the need to develop an interesting addition to the enclosure where Otto receives any necessary medical treatment. They took a pipe, cut it in half and attached it to the cage. Now, Otto is being trained to go into this section, which helps him feel more secure while receiving any needed injections or other medical treatment.
Otto is quite a fun otter to watch. In fact, Otter News has recently returned to Denver Zoo to see him again. He was out swimming and romping around his exhibit on that warm Saturday afternoon. Denver had experienced some very cold weather the week prior and the waterfall in the enclosure had become quite frozen. However, the warmer temperatures of the day had begun to allow the ice to melt away. Otto enjoyed the ice as it broke off - playing and entertaining the visitors with his ice wielding antics! It was good to see him again.
Otter News is especially excited to bring our followers the news that Otto will soon have a companion otter! Ashley and zoological staff have been working with the SSP (Species Survival Plan) program to identify an otter that will be able to call Denver Zoo home. The companion for Otto is coming from a facility on the west coast. Keep following Denver Zoo on Facebook, www.facebook.com/DenverZoo, and via their website, www.denverzoo.org for more information. Otter News will keep following as well and will definitely let everyone know when Otto’s companion arrives.
Otter News extends its sincere appreciation to Ashley Snow and Denver Zoo for this interview as well as taking such great care of the otters we all love!!
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