It should catch the eye of families visiting for spring break.
A couple of giant otters, aged two and three, arrived this winter at the Palmyre zoo in Royan.
He joined the enclosure located at the foot of the zoo's vivarium, and refitted after the departure of the polar bears in 2019. of institutions,” the park explained in a statement.
In addition to a heated building, the mustelids have a green exterior and a 700m3 pool.
It will allow visitors to observe them as they swim underwater.
Four kilos of fish a day
With a size that can reach nearly two meters, the giant otter is the largest of the 13 species of otters recorded.
Since the end of the 1990s, La Palmyre Zoo has welcomed the gray otter, classified as Vulnerable on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as is the giant otter.
Essentially piscivorous, the latter consumes between 3 and 4 kg of fish every day.
"Intensely hunted for its skin, the giant otter almost disappeared in the early 1970s," the zoo explains.
The cessation of the trade in skins and the establishment of laws to protect it have enabled certain populations to recover”.
Planet
Fossils of a giant wolf-sized otter unearthed in China
Planet
Maine-et-Loire: An otter leaves the Doué-la-Fontaine zoo to be reintroduced into the wild
Planet
Zoo
Animals