SINGAPORE — Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) today (Oct 3) announced the birth of Asia’s first giant river otter baby, amid the more than 400 animal babies born in the first eight months of this year at its four parks.

The births at Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari, River Safari and Singapore Zoo were announced in conjunction with World Animal Day tomorrow.

Born on Aug 10, the unnamed male giant river otter pup now weighs 1.6kg and measures 60cm.

The giant river otter pup and his mother have both been left alone in their den to bond, and will enter the River Safari’s Amazon Flooded Forest exhibit in a few week’s time.

His parents, Carlos and Carmen, are from Germany’s Hamburg and Duisburg Zoo respectively, and arrived in August last year as part of an animal exchange and breeding programme. The River Safari is the first zoological institution in Asia to feature the river giants.

Adult giant otters can grown up to 1.8m in length and weigh up to 34kg, and they are the largest of the world’s 13 otter species. Found only in the South American river systems, hunting and habitat loss have resulted in the giant river otters being among the rarest otters in the world.

The other animal babies born or hatched this year are from more than 100 species, of which 37 are classified as threatened in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

These include a Malayan tapir, Putri, which was born on June 3, and Chocolate, an endangered African penguin chick, hatched on March 14.

WRS Chief Life Sciences Officer Cheng Wen-Haur said: “We have maintained an excellent record of success in our captive breeding programme, and visitors to our parks are often pleasantly surprised to find adorable animal babies.

“The landmark birth of Asia’s first giant river otter baby represents the culmination of efforts and dedication of our zoology team in adopting and maintaining the highest standards of husbandry. With increasing threats such as habitat destruction and poaching, captive breeding programmes play a pivotal role in conserving threatened species for our future generations.”