Watch: Baby Otters Debut at the L.A. Zoo

Three giant river otter pups were born at the Los Angeles Zoo in March. Photo Credit: Tad Motoyama, L.A. Zoo

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Animal naturalists at the L.A. Zoo are proudly showing off the latest additions to the giant river otter family. A litter of three pups was born March 28. The litter includes two males and one female.

This is the second litter born in less than a year. Jennie Becker, Curator of Mammals at Los Angeles Zoo, believes their new habitat could be playing a role in their success.

“Historically, there has been a high infant mortality rate for giant otters in captivity,” said Becker. “This could be due to a lot of different factors: stress, outside noise, or the female not being confident. This new habitat at the Rainforest of the Americas takes those factors into account and really gives the mother all of the opportunities she needs to reproduce successfully, which she has twice now.”

The habitat opened in April 2014. The first litter of pups was born in September. That litter had one boy and one girl.

“The two litters of pups born at the Rainforest of the Americas habitat are the first non-hand reared giant otter babies we’ve ever had at the L.A. Zoo,” said Becker. “We weren’t really sure what to expect from the parents since the female was hand-reared by Animal Care staff, but we’re happy to see that the family group is doing very well. The juveniles are very watchful over their new, younger siblings and are helping the parents teach the pups basic skills. This is how it would be done in the wild.”

The giant otter is a South American mammal, endangered because of habitat destruction, poaching and other man-caused issues. The noisiest of the otter species, their vocalizations travel far distances.

The otter family is on display daily in their habitat at Rainforest of the Americas, weather permitting. The Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens is located in Griffith Park at the junction of the Ventura (134) and Golden State (5) freeways. Admission is $19 for adults and $14 for children ages 2 to 12. The Zoo is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.