River Otter

The river otter exhibit opened at the zoo in may of 2013. Our otter Shirley came to the zoo in 2013 at about 2-3 years old. Otters are solitary animals besides a mom with young, so they prefer to be by themselves. Shirley like most otters loves to eat fish, in the wild they would eat minnows, bass, perch and even some frogs. Can live 8-15 years in the wild and up to 20 years in captivity. They can hold there breath up to 8 minutes when needed for hunting or getting away from predators. They can have up to a million hairs per square inch which is what makes them water repellant.