Orphaned North American River Otter Pup Admitted at Texas State Aquarium Wildlife Rescue
May 14, 2020
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – The Texas State Aquarium recently admitted a furry new patient to its Wildlife Rescue program: a two-pound orphaned North American river otter pup.
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – The Texas State Aquarium recently admitted a furry new patient to its Wildlife Rescue program: a two-pound orphaned North American river otter pup. On April 27, a juvenile male river otter approximately five to six weeks old was found orphaned on the side of a road in Austin, TX. The small otter pup was taken to the Central Veterinary Specialty & Emergency Hospital in Austin where he was immediately triaged. After stabilizing the pup’s blood glucose levels and body temperature, the Hospital contacted the Texas State Aquarium’s Head Veterinarian, Taylor Yaw, and swiftly made plans to transfer the tiny patient to the Texas State Aquarium’s Wildlife Rescue program in Corpus Christi.
A team of Texas State Aquarium marine mammal trainers and veterinary staff created a portable veterinary clinic and headed to Austin to transport the pup to the Aquarium’s Wildlife Rescue program. Upon arrival at the Texas State Aquarium the otter pup was found to be underweight and dehydrated, but thanks to the quick work of the emergency team at Central Veterinary, the pup was already started on the road to recovery.
Since his arrival at Texas State Aquarium Wildlife Rescue on April 28, the little otter has been under 24-hour care by the Aquarium’s marine mammal and veterinary staff, and has steadily shown improvement. After several days of intense critical care, the young otter regained enough strength to begin eating on his own and quickly became much more active and alert.
Due to the very young age at which the otter pup was rescued and cared for, he will be unable to be released and will have a permanent home at the Texas State Aquarium.
“We have already welcomed this tiny otter to the TSA family,” said the Aquarium’s COO Jesse Gilbert, “His overall condition has made a great improvement since his arrival, and he has already formed bonds with the staff who have been providing around-the-clock care for him. He’s made impressive steps toward a full recovery in a short amount of time, and we’re hopeful that will continue.”
Texas State Aquarium staff will continue to provide the 24-hour care that the otter pup still requires, with the hope of acclimating him to his new home at Otter Creek soon.
Our longstanding fear of sharks has always been evident in literature, and in countless movies and TV shows – perhaps most prominently in the movie “Jaws” and Discovery Channel’s popular “Shark Week” series. While the media loves to play up ou... Read More