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PHOTOS, VIDEO: Orphaned, 5-Week-Old Otter Pup Gets TLC at Shedd

By Kyla Gardner | November 5, 2014 2:43pm
Watch Shedd's New Baby Otter Swim
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Shedd Aquarium/Brenna Hernandez

CHICAGO — An orphaned sea otter found along the California coast is getting a second chance with the help of experts at the Shedd Aquarium.

"Pup 681," as she's called, was found abandoned at just a week old on Sept. 30. She weighed less than 2½ pounds, small for a baby otter, and had been separated for her mom for more than 16 hours, according to staff at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where she went for rehabilitation.

"This meant it was critical that we begin to get calories into her as quickly as possible,” said Karl Mayer, animal care coordinator for the Sea Otter Program in a statement.

Pup 681 made it to her new home at the Shedd Oct. 28, where staff make sure she has round-the-clock care to learn the necessary otter life skills of grooming, foraging and feeding. Sea otters pups can stay with their mother as long as eight months normally.

 The Shedd received an orphaned five-week-old baby otter pup Oct. 28.
Shedd's New Baby Otter
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“It truly takes a village to rehabilitate a young sea otter," said Tim Binder, vice president of animal collections for the Shedd in a statement. "Our animal care team is teaching the pup how to be an otter."

The tiny pup — who is now 5 weeks old and weighs a healthy six pounds — is also learning how to regulate her body temperature by moving to a dry towel when she's done swimming. She "reaches new milestones every day," like taking formula from a bottle and eating shrimp and clams.

Sea otters were listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1977, and have made a slow recovery in California. In 2014, the population was 2,944, a growth of five from 2013, according to the United States Geological Survey.

For now, Pup 681 is still behind the scenes at the aquarium as she continues to grow, but you can see her in action — swimming, wiping her face with her paws, making squeaking sounds — in the video below.

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