Wellington Zoo has welcomed five male Asian small-clawed otters, who arrived from Perth Zoo yesterday.
The new arrivals spent their first day in quarantine undergoing MPI health checks and made their debut in the zoo's otter exhibit today.
Bay, Eko, Si, Bhutan and Jambi – two-year-old brothers – are settling in well to life in the capital.
"They're very curious and are enjoying investigating their new surroundings together," says Wellington Zoo life sciences manager Paul Horton.
Perth Zoo supervisor Holly Thompson says the zoo is excited its bachelor group of otters are finding a new home in New Zealand.
"They're a very cheeky, clever and gregarious group who love getting up to mischief, so I am sure they'll delight visitors as much as they have done at Perth Zoo," she says.
"Bay is the leader of the pack and usually instigates all the mischief, whilst Jambi is the more tentative of the boys."
Asian small-clawed otters are the smallest of the world's 13 otter species and are classed as vulnerable species, facing the threat of habitat loss in the wild. They live in freshwater rivers, swamps and wetlands in southern and south-eastern Asia.
3 News
source: newshub archive
