If any of you have visited the San Diego Zoo this past month, you may have noticed that our Cape clawless otter pool in Bear Canyon is drained. Why? Because on March 8, 2008, we were thrilled to discover that our female, Sweet Otter, had given birth!

We had been hoping Sweet Otter would become pregnant, because we had seen her breeding with her mate, Herman, back in November and then again in January. Doing the math for a 60- to 80-day gestation period, we were eagerly on watch starting in March for signs that she could be pregnant. Regular weights on Sweet Otter were not very telling, as it seemed that she was gaining and losing just a little bit at each weight session, thus keeping her about the same. However, we keepers concurred that her belly was looking a little bit rounder as time went on. We were also seeing some mammary development in which her teats were noticeably more prominent.

Her behavior was starting to change, and she was becoming more and more intolerant of Herman's presence. She would still eat next to him, but did not want him touching her and would at times be aggressive toward him. Sweet Otter was also doing a lot more nest-building activities around the exhibit. She's always made little snuggly nests, but we thought that her nests were becoming more purposeful in nature instead of just moving bedding around like she usually does.

With all of these signs, we made the decision to move Herman out of the enclosure to give Sweet Otter the privacy she needed in case she was pregnant. Once Herman was relocated to a suite at our hospital facility, Sweet Otter started to build a larger nest inside one of the den boxes. We had been offering her different kinds of nesting material, such as Bermuda hay, ginger cuttings, pine branches, and pine shavings. She was using all of these items to make her bed inside one of the den boxes, but what really tipped us off was when she used an entire cardboard box full of shredded paper. This was really intended as an enrichment item, but overnight she had ripped up the whole box and added it to the den box, along with every bit of the shredded paper. This was something she had never done before, so we were getting very excited! As a precaution, we began draining the pool every evening just in case a birth should occur. Since Sweet Otter would be a first-time mom, we didn't know if she would have the pups in the den, and we didn't want to take the chance of a possible drowning.

Just a few days after this big nest-making event (March 8 to be exact), one of the keepers was doing his morning check of the animals and was greeted by some loud squeaking noises coming from the otter den. He listened carefully and concluded that they were indeed noises coming from at least one otter pup! The noises gradually settled down, so he felt reassured that the baby or babies were not being harmed. Then he came out to tell everyone of his findings. As you can imagine, we were all thrilled!

Now came the time to sit back and hope that Sweet Otter's motherly instincts would kick in. Since we couldn't see into the den box, we had to rely on noise to determine that the pups were doing okay. Each day we would listen carefully and were comforted by squeaking sounds followed by the contented slurping noises of nursing. We were all dying to know how many pups there were and what they looked like. On March 17, my manager presented me with a lighted scope to use in an attempt to see into the nest box. What I discovered was one adorable, chubby, wrinkly little otter pup! I didn't look very long so as not to cause Sweet Otter distress, but I was able to see that the pup was alive and well and snuggled on a thick nest. Sweet Otter was indeed being a very good mom and I was just thrilled!

As time has gone on, we've gotten more and more glimpses of the pup by opening up the top of the box and peering inside. Sweet Otter has been fine with this, often just lying there looking up at us while curled around her baby, nursing it. Recently,I was able to weigh the pup when Sweet Otter left the den box. It weighed a whopping 3 pounds (1.4 kilograms) and is getting a little bit darker than the soft light gray color we saw in the beginning. Today, when I peeked into the den box for my morning check, Sweet Otter's curious face and that of her little pup's greeted me, its eyes finally open!

You can imagine that it will only be a matter of time before the pup starts exiting the den to take its first steps. We will be offering small amounts of water in the pool soon so that Sweet Otter can introduce her pup to water. At first, this may only happen at night when no one is around, so please be patient as Sweet Otter gains trust in her environment.

Stay tuned for updates on this little pup and his or her progress. And if you have a chance to visit Bear Canyon at the San Diego Zoo, take a closer peek at the otter enclosure to see if the baby is out yet. Who knows, you may get a pleasant surprise one of these days!

Hali Anderson is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

Here's more information about otters…

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