5 Asian small-clawed otter pups born at Florida zoo

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(Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo announced on Thursday that five Asian small-clawed otter pups have been born at their zoo.

They said that the otter pups are parented by Duncan and Chitra. Zookeepers reportedly heard tiny squeaks coming from their den just before Thanksgiving. The two otter parents had worked for weeks to outfit the den with blankets, pine straw, and sticks. This is made difficult to look inside, but after a month of waiting patiently, the pups began to take turns coming out to eat and swim.

(Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo)

Then, on December 20, the zoo said that they got their first glimpse of a pup on a camera trap. Within days, they witnessed the parents carrying the pups out of the den. This is when zookeepers began to weigh and assess each one to ensure that they were healthy.