Asian Small-Clawed Otter Husbandry Manual (1998)

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Parental CareIt has been noted that males play an important role in parental care. Males carry food to femalein the nest box. Both parents carry and groom cubs. The males seem too responsible forgathering food items for cubs after weaning. Both parents teach young to swim.Young RemovedAge will vary depending on compatibility of group. Some cubs are removed as young as 5months and as old as 6 years. It is recommended that one set of siblings assist in care of secondset if possible.Inter-Birth IntervalEstablished breeding pairs confined with previous offspring have been known to reproduce anddeliver within the group after a 9.5-month period with previous litters assisting the pair. Adultand sub-adult males should remain with females before and after delivery unless extremeaggression is observed. It is normal for dams to carry young to a new location and have the sirereturn them to the old. This exchange has been observed to continue for sometime. During thisperiod some sires have been observed to lose weight. Seasonality or breeding does not appear tochange the group’s social behavior except that the adults may become more aggressive towardsolder youngsters.Behavior Indicators for Social StressOtters will show certain behavior indicators such as: defined pecking order; fur plucking;spinning; ostracizing; fighting; pacing; submission; and avoidance. If any behaviors are seen,social structure should be changed or evaluated.Asian Small-Clawed Otter Husbandry Manual/Behavior and Social Organization63
Action Plan for Asian OttersPat Foster-Turley and Charles SantiapillaiIntroductionFive species of otter are known from Asia. They are Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra); smooth otter (Lutraperspicillata); hairy-nosed otter (Lutra sunwtrana); Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinerea) andthe sea otter (Enhydra lutris).Throughout their distribution in Asia, otters are being threatened by a combination of habitat destruction,hunting, and environmental pollution, especially from the organochlorines. The demand for naturalresources in the Asian region is bound to increase sharply. The human population is predicted to reach3.4 billion by the year 2000 and is not expected to stabilize below 6 billion in the latter part of thetwenty-first century. This growth rate alone indicates a doubling in the demand on the natural resourcesevery 30 years or less. In reality, the situation is likely to be worse than this, since most Asianeconomies are booming, and the resource use per person can be expected to increase drastically overthe next 20 years. One of the consequences of the burgeoning human population across Asia is therapid conversion of forests to other land uses. The conversion of forests in general and the riparianvegetation in particular is a serious conservation problem in Asia. Otters are among the animals thatsuffer.Direct threats to the otters in Asia include killing them for their pelts, or for their organs, which arethought to have medicinal value in some regions. Otters are also sometimes killed because they arethought to compete with fishermen, or because of their depredations upon fish-farming operations. Theindirect threats such as pollution of the environment with industrial and agricultural wastes are even moreserious. Of particular concern are the organochlorines, especially PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls),which are bio-magnified at the top of the food chain. As the level of PCBs in the wetlands increases,there is usually a general decline in aquatic mammals, such as otters. It is therefore quite alarming tonote that large quantities of PCBs are still in use in Asian countries. Unless these are collected anddestroyed, they will remain a potent threat to the survival of the otters and other wildlife in the wetlands.Evidence suggests that the accumulation of PCBs has been largely responsible for the widespreaddecline of populations of the Eurasian otter in Western Europe (Mason and Macdonald 1986a). Asimilar problem could be developing in Asia. In many countries in Asia where otters were oncecommon, they have disappeared due to a combination of the direct and indirect threats. In Hong Kong,Japan, and Singapore, otters are believed to be extirpated, and otters of all species are rare in much ofthe rest of Asia.Despite the overall pessimistic condition facing otters in Asia, there are some causes for guardedoptimism as well. In Peninsular Malaysia, for instance, otters are still widespread in many areas, evenbeyond the boundaries of protected areas. In other countries, healthy populations of otters remain inAsian Small-Clawed Otter Husbandry Manual/Action Plan64
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IntroductionStatus……………
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Enrichment……………………
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Status of Asian OttersThe Red List
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NUTRITION AND DIETMike Maslanka and
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included a wide variety of fish (ca
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As mentioned previously, several ba
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Newborn and/or weakened cubs should
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chitin addition, special prescripti
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Table 1.3.Analyzed nutrient content
Page 21 and 22: NutrientGroundHorsemeatNebraskaFeli
Page 23 and 24: Asian Small- Clawed Otter Husbandry
Page 25 and 26: Appendix 1.2. Manufacturer Contacts
Page 27 and 28: AudubonBermuda AquariumBirmingham Z
Page 31 and 32: Health CareKristine R. Petrini, DVM
Page 33 and 34: ISIS normal reference values for Ao
Page 35 and 36: • Serum should be banked.• Urin
Page 37 and 38: 5 mg/kg SC or POPreshipment examina
Page 39 and 40: Injectable anesthetic agents can be
Page 41 and 42: • Serum, (antemortem or postmorte
Page 43 and 44: Diseases of the Asian small-clawed
Page 45 and 46: procedure can help minimize bacteri
Page 47 and 48: Concurrent infection with calicivir
Page 49 and 50: Dracunculus insignis ("Guinea worm"
Page 51 and 52: eeding season. The alopecia most co
Page 53 and 54: Laboratory Studies: (List bacterial
Page 55 and 56: GROSS EXAMINATIONGeneral Condition:
Page 57 and 58: Nervous and Sensory Systems: (Brain
Page 59 and 60: Copulatory bouts occur on land and
Page 61 and 62: Asian Small Clawed Otter (Aonyx cin
Page 63 and 64: HousingOtters are land animals that
Page 65 and 66: The holding area should include:A p
Page 67: EnrichmentCage FurnitureArtificial
Page 71: plays a very active role in rearing
Page 75 and 76: Hairy-Nosed Otter--(Lutra sumatrana
Page 77 and 78: 4. Environmental and other factors
Page 79 and 80: 1. The otter species probably disap
Page 81 and 82: IndonesiaSpecies PresentAsian small
Page 83 and 84: 1. Analyses of dead otters and of t
Page 85 and 86: 2. People kill otters because of su
Page 87 and 88: Legal StatusOtters have been on the
Page 89 and 90: 4. Disturbance by human settlement.
Page 91 and 92: Legal StatusNo information availabl
Page 93 and 94: Species PresentEurasian otterStatus
Page 95 and 96: Health:-Do you perform regular rout
Page 97 and 98: -Do you regularly weigh your animal
Page 99 and 100: Vegetables-Apple __________________
Page 101 and 102: -Are there any diagnosed nutritiona
Page 103 and 104: -What is the breeding season for yo
Page 105 and 106: -Have you observed any indication o
Page 107 and 108: -How often and how much of the wate
Page 109 and 110: Behavior and Social Organization:-W
Page 111 and 112: Foster-Turley, P. 1992. Conservatio
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Asian Small-Clawed Otter Husbandry Manual (1998)

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