JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It took two Jacksonville Zoo staff members and a bucket of fish to lure the four young otter pups out of their den Sunday afternoon, soon to be greeted by a crowd of excited onlookers pressing against the glass surrounding the aquarium. The litter, born in June, marks a major milestone in the efforts surrounding the conservation of giant river otter pups.
Born to a blind 11-year-old father named Buddy and a 7-year-old mother Sarave, the three girl pups and one boy pup were quick to dash around the enclosure. Waddling onto rocks and splashing over a makeshift waterfall, the young otters were first introduced to the public Saturday.
Buddy, originally from Guyana and brought to the Jacksonville Zoo in 2011, was orphaned as a pup. Sarave, a transfer from Zoo Miami, arrived in Jacksonville last year.
"We weren't really sure if they would get along," Katie Long, a mammal keeper at the zoo, said. "We always recommend that animals breed, but we can't ever ensure that happens."
Current estimates place the number of giant river otters in captivity worldwide around 60, but that number is higher outside of zoos, according to Jacksonville Zoo staff. The otter species remains the most endangered and rarest mammal in South America.
Long said she hopes the new arrivals will educate visitors about the dangers the otters face in the wild, like hunting and habitat loss.
"Increases of humans and other natural habitat degradation causes the otters to either find new places to live, and because they're very skilled hunters, the population can see them as fishing competition," Long said. "In some countries, they're as low as 13 to 25 individuals. In other countries, like Brazil, their numbers are more in the couple thousands."
Zoo staff said that once the new pups grow, Buddy and Sarave could have another litter. This first litter of pups, all of which remain unnamed for now, will be able to watch their parents raise children and will learn how to do the same. After that, the first litter could be sent to other zoos to be placed with mates.
With so few individual otters in captivity, Buddy remains the most genetically-valuable giant river otter in the Species Survival Plan (SSP). He was born at the Karanambu Lodge and Trust in Guyana, which the zoo partners with.