OTTER SMALL NAILS

The small- clawed otter , Aonyx cinerea , is the smallest otter in the world. It lives in the mangrove swamps and freshwater swamp areas of Bangladesh, southern India, China, Indochina, Peninsular Malaysia and the Philippines. It is often found near irrigated rice fields where it is easier to recover food. This species spends most of its time on the ground unlike any other otter.

Attend the Otters Feeding with our expert and aquarium staff.
OTTERS FEEDING
Every day
10:45 am / 12:45 / 4:00 pm

(Lutrinae) are a subfamily of carnivores of the Mustelidae family, known by the common name of otters. There are 13 species of otters divided into 6 genera, with an almost global distribution area. All otters have a thin and flexible body with short legs. Most have sharp claws for grabbing prey. Fish is the main food in the diet of otters, along with frogs, lobsters and crabs. Fur is not enough to survive in the cold waters where many otters live: otters therefore have very high metabolic rates and burn many calories for energy. Eurasian otters, for example, must eat 15% of their body weight per day; sea otters, even 20-25%, depending on the temperature in which they live. This makes them very vulnerable, most of them hunt for 3-5 hours a day.

The small-nailed otter lives in large family groups where only the alpha pair (first pair) reproduces and the previous broods collaborate in raising the young.

This species of otter forms monogamous pairs for life. Each couple can have two litters per year with one 1-6 young at a time. Their gestation period is around 60 days. Babies are relatively undeveloped. At birth they weigh about 50 g, are toothless, practically motionless and the eyes are still closed.

After delivery, the puppies remain in their burrows and spend the first weeks sleeping. They are fully weaned at 14 weeks. Newborn babies begin to open their eyes after 40 days. All the young otters stay with their mother until a new litter arrives. The male otter assists the female during the construction of the nest before the birth and recovers the food for the offspring. The average life of this species ranges from 11 to 16 years.

They are very active animals during the day, excellent swimmers thanks to the movements of the hind legs and the tail. They can dive underwater for about 6/8 minutes. They are often seen playing near rivers.

Habitat degradation, pollution and hunting lead the small-clawed otter to be considered a 'vulnerable' species belonging to the IUCN Red List.