Badass little otter pup is a survivor, he gonna make it
And let's hope he keeps on surviving.
An oriental small-clawed otter pup from Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia is beginning to venture out of its nest months after a close call at birth.
Named Intan, meaning "diamond" in the Indonesian language, the male pup was delivered via an emergency caesarean birth after its mother, Pia, was having trouble giving birth naturally.
It also turned out Pia was bearing three pups, but sadly two of them were found unresponsive after being delivered.
"Unfortunately two pups didn’t survive, but we were able to successfully resuscitate the third pup and it was suckling from mum within hours of the birth," Taronga Zoo Veterinarian, Frances Hulst, said in a statement.
And so there was one. The surviving pup spent 10 weeks developing in its nest box, but has begun to explore the world outside under the guard of mother Pia and dad Ketut.
"He’s very curious, but still very much reliant on mum and dad for everything. They’ve started encouraging him into the water, swimming alongside him and teaching him to dive underwater," Hulst said.
Intan is the first successful otter birth at Taronga Zoo in 15 years, which is part of a regional breeding program of the species.
The otter is found across the southern parts of India, south-east Asia, the Philippines and Indonesia -- but is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN due to habitat loss and exploitation.
Topics Animals
