Auckland Zoo welcomes three rare Asian small-clawed otter babies

Photo / Auckland Zoo

Three rare otters have been born at Auckland Zoo.

The Asian small-clawed babies' birth was announced on World Otter Day.

Taking to social media, the zoo's carnivore team leader Lauren Booth gave details about their health and wellbeing.

"Our second otter couple Kanan and Takumi have recently given birth to three adorable pups," she wrote on the Zoo's Facebook page.

"It's early days with the pups only a few weeks old and it's likely to be at least a month before we will start to see them venturing outside of their nest box and learning how to swim."

Booth explained the enormity of the otters' births, describing the Asian small-clawed otters as "vulnerable", "at threat" and in "decline".

Photo / Auckland Zoo

"Asian small-clawed otters are in decline and listed as vulnerable in their wild home of South East Asia due to threats like agriculture, habitat loss and pollution – so we're absolutely delighted that we can introduce more precious otter pups into the world that will one day go on to have pups of their own!"

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Listen closely - can you hear our otters calling to each other? In order to keep our otters on their toes we hide different food items around their habitat so they can use their senses to seek them out - exactly as they would in the wild. Otters have up to 13 unique vocalisations that they use to let their whānau know exactly what they’ve found. Compared to other otter species, Asian small-clawed otters are very terrestrial and they like to spend their time on land as well as in the water which is why both of our otter habitats give them options for swimming, for exploring and for resting. Did you know? As part of our #FutureZoo we’re building a new home for these guys and some other pretty special carnivores - Sumatran tigers, so stay turned for more information in the weeks and months to come. #WorldOtterDay takeover - Lauren, carnivore team leader.

A post shared by Auckland Zoo (@aucklandzoo) on May 28, 2019 at 8:30pm PDT

Asian small-clawed otters are the smallest of 13 otter species.

I’d like to conclude our World Otter Day takeover with some exciting news – we have newly born otter pups! Our second...

Posted by Auckland Zoo on Tuesday, 28 May 2019

They like to spend their time on land as well as in the water, a reason why both of Auckland Zoo's otter habitats have options for swimming, exploring and for resting.

The zoo also indicated they'd be building new enclosures for Sumatran tigers in the near future.