Kinah Meets the Otters
Posted at 11:50 am June 21, 2007 by Kecia Spears
Once Kinah and her group had been successfully introduced to the four juvenile swamp monkeys (see Kecia's blog, Kinah's New Home), it was time to put the spot-necked otters back on exhibit in Ituri Forest. Our otters have always gotten along with our swamp monkeys in this exhibit. In fact, the young otters and young monkeys have a great time playing with each other and making the crowds laugh with their antics. There was some apprehension, however, due to the fact that Kinah is so small! Would the otters accidentally cause her harm as she is much smaller than the juveniles the otters were already living with?
Upon putting the family of four otters back on exhibit, we held our breath and were ready for action! It didn't take long before we could all exhale as it was a smooth introduction! The otters were simply happy to be out of their bedrooms so they could go for a nice swim and bask in the sun. They were unperturbed by their new tenants. After all, they were already living with some swamp monkeys, what's a few more? The only one who seemed to think anything was amiss was Toad, the adult male swamp monkey that was new to the exhibit. What were these animals doing in HIS exhibit!? He made no action toward the otters, but watched them intently for a period of time. Once he determined they posed him no threat, he hardly shot them a sidelong glance.
Stop by Ituri Forest to see our Allen's swamp monkeys and spot-necked otters happily cohabitating!
Kecia Spears is a keeper at the San Diego Zoo.
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June 21st, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Hopefully the otters won't think Kinah is an very large fish jumping about on land! Hah! Hah!
I can just imagine Bunzi and Kinah looking around very inquisatively at their new home with all the space and new places to climb. On top of that there are critters in the water that come out on land to sun themselves. My oh My what is a young swamp monkey to do. Being the adult male in the crowd, and presumably the defensive leader, I can picture Toad assessing these critters to be sure they stayed near the water and not up in his trees.
Please keep us posted as the two groups of monkeys and the otters and the four new resident monkeys interact. I am certain there will be lots of Summer entertainment.