By Alicia Northcott | Wildlife Tour Guide
With the funding raised from invaluable donors on GlobalGiving we were able to solve our otter housing challenge at PTWRC, at least for now. Since we launched this microproject to fund an enclosure for the otter with filed down canines, we have rescued an additional five smooth-coated otters! Our original goal was to raise $5,000 to build a new otter enclosure and although we did not reach this goal the $1,825 you collectively donated enabled us to make the adjustments needed to convert a large enclosure with lots of foliage and a large pool that was previously occupied by fishing cats into one suitable for otters.
Fishing cats and otters are both good at climbing so the enclosure was already secured to prevent escapes by climbing, however the enclosure was not originally designed for an animal that could dig! To make the enclosure suitable for otters, we dug a 1m trench all the way around beneath the preexisting fencing and filled it in with concrete. This ensures that the most recently rescued otters now living in the renovated enclosure can dig to their hearts content everywhere inside the enclosure but are unable to escape. Digging is a natural behaviour for otters and it is essential that we provide space for them to exhibit this and build their own dens if they wish.
The original otter now lives in a large forested enclosure with plenty of trees and, most importantly, a large pool to swim in. He accompanies another male smooth-coated otter, who was also previously on his own, which provides them both with much needed interaction and enrichment, which is important for this social species. They spend their days playing together in and out of the water and grooming each other, and at night time they sleep together in the den area. Because his canines were filed down when he was in the illegal pet trade, we keep a close eye on them at feeding times in case his reduced canines proves a problem but are happy to report this has not given him and difficulty so far. At the moment, he is keeping up eating pace with his companion so manages to eat his fair share of the fish!
We are very happy that thanks to your donations to this microproject we have been able to give these six recently rescued otters the very best captive environment where they can exhibit many different natural behaviours.
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