Enrichment for otters

Food - Otters feed on a variety of shellfish, crawdads, oysters, and sea urchins. They are known for keeping the ocean food chain balanced.

Familes - Male otters are very territorial especially in the breeding season, but females are very social.

Status in the wild - Otters were considered an endangered species because they were hunted for their thick, soft fur for the fur trade. Now, otter populations are slowly, very slowly, raising.

Location- Otters are most commonly found on the Pacific coast of North America.

Enrichment at the Oregon zoo

* Plastic buckets to play with
* Rubber Balls to play around
* Rubber dog toys
* Occasionally live crawdads, fish, and shellfish
* Ice treats
* Shrimp wrapped in car wash strips and frozen in ice
* Hammock made from car wash strips
* Boomer ball filled with treats (see common enrichment)
* Training sticks for training
* Training- provides human interaction
* Carwash "kelp" for sea otters

 

Learn more about river otters and sea otters.

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