What happens if an otter pup gets separated from its mother? In some aquariums, otter surrogacy programs are finding success.
As cute as they are, baby otters are also highly demanding, and moms carry the load. Mother otters teach pups how to groom themselves, to forage for tasty morsels like shellfish, to crack them open with a rock, to dive and even to swim. Baby otters hang around their moms for as long as eight to 11 months, compared to the mere four to six weeks that sea lions spend in their mothers’ care.
And SeaWorld San Diego continues to play a supportive role, making females from its otter program available for surrogacy in Long Beach and Monterey Bay, as well as taking in aging retired surrogates, thereby freeing up space in partner aquariums to foster more surrogate pairings. Once the orphans can eat solid food, it’s time to pair them with a surrogate, that is, a permanent female resident of the aquarium unable to return to the wild. The two generally hit it off quickly but in some cases it takes a few days to bond.
Otters learning to eat crabs have provided some vivid memories for Lundy. The surrogate might snap off the leg to show the baby that there is meat inside, or the pup might delight in flinging the crab against the wall to break the shell.
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