An orphaned North American river otter is being rehabilitated at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore after being rescued by rangers on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Elk Neck State Park.
According to zoo officials, the female pup was around 40 days old when rangers rescued her, after her mother didnt return.
“Otters that young are very vulnerable without their mother,” Erin Cantwell Grimm, Mammal Curator at the Maryland Zoo, said in a statement. “They need to eat every few hours, so our hospital staff has been working around the clock.”
A video shared by the zoo shows the young otter pup eating and playing in the zoos animal hospital. She will remain there until she becomes a more experienced swimmer, zoo officials said.
“Pups learn all their life skills from their mother so its up to us to teach them things an otter should know, like how to hunt, whats safe to eat and, believe it or not, not to be afraid of the water at first,” Grimm said.
“The pup was quite young when it was found without its mother so it would not have been able to survive on its own in the wild. So, we have to take over and make sure it has all the tools shell need to thrive into adulthood,” Grimm said.
Once shes ready, the pup will be moved to an institution to be determined by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan.
