video: Oregon Zoo Releases New Video of Rescued Otter Pup
Wednesday, October 08, 2014
Juno (front) and Thelma (back)
The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sea Otter Research and Conservation program arranged for her rescue, but with no experienced adult otters available to raise her, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service deemed the young pup non-releasable and approved her transfer to the Oregon Zoo.
The Steller Cove sea otter habitat at the Oregon Zoo is home to now eight-month-old Juno and her two geriatric otter friends, Thelma and Eddie both 16.
Juno has spent time with Thelma for the past several months and met Eddie for the first time last week. Zoo keepers said the two are getting along well.
“There’s been a lot of wrestling, which is what you expect when sea otters first meet,” said Jenny DeGroot, the zoo’s sea otter lead. “It can look a bit rough to visitors sometimes, but it’s normal otter behavior. By the end of their first day together, Juno was actually initiating the wrestling with Eddie, and she’s definitely holding her own. She is one confident little otter.”
Juno weighs 32 pounds and is expected to grow to around the size of Thelma who weighs 50 pounds. Having Juno play with the older otters is mutually beneficially because Thelma and Eddie help rear her, while Juno keeps them active, said the Zoo.
“Having a youngster like Juno around should be rejuvenating for both Thelma and Eddie,” said Nicole Nicassio-Hiskey, the zoo’s senior marine life keeper. “We have a lot of really old animals here, so we focus quite a bit on geriatric care.”
Eddie and Thelma have lived at the Oregon Zoo since 2000 on long-term loan from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Like Juno, both were rescued along the coast of California, where they were abandoned as pups in 1998, according to the zoo.
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