Taronga 19.05.2017: A tiny otter pup has begun to venture outside its nest
at Taronga Zoo after being delivered in a lifesaving caesarean birth.
Veterinarians were called in to save the Oriental Small-clawed Otter pup
on 28 February after mother Pia was unable to give birth naturally. "Pia
was having difficulties during labour, so we had to intervene and
undertake an emergency caesarean," said Taronga Veterinarian, Frances
Hulst. Pia was found to be carrying three pups, but sadly all of the pups
were unresponsive when they were 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," said Frances. After the
spending its first 10 weeks developing in its nestbox, the male pup has
just begun to explore outdoors under the close watch of Pia and father
Ketut. "They’ve been perfect parents. They’re both extremely attentive and
occasionally even battle over who gets to look after the pup," said
Keeper, Ben Haynes. "Ketut is a first-time dad, but he grew up with
younger siblings so he has experience collecting fish and caring for
younger otters." Ketut arrived at Taronga from Perth Zoo in 2015 and his
successful paring with Pia is seen as an encouraging sign for the regional
breeding program for Oriental Small-clawed Otters. The pup is the first
successful otter birth at Taronga in more than 15 years. The pup has been
named ‘Intan’, meaning ‘diamond’ in Indonesian. Weighing about 500 grams,
he has begun tasting solid food and learning to swim alongside his
parents. Paul Fahy / Taronga Zoo / animal.press
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