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Calgary Zoo welcomes pair of otter pups

Calgary Zoo welcomes pair of otter pups

The Calgary Zoo is celebrating its first successful otter litter.

On March 18, Charlotte, the zoo's 10-year-old river otter, gave birth to two pups. Zoo officials have not yet determined the pups' gender.

"The pups are thriving and we have observed them nursing," said Jamie Dorgan, general curator of the Calgary Zoo. "Charlotte is doing everything that a new mom should."

Charlotte and her little ones are living in the den in the zoo's river otter enclosure and are expected to remain there for the next month.

"That's what we expect, it's completely up to mom to decide when she's comfortable," Dorgan said. "Normally the very earliest with this species would be around 30 days but normally it's 45 to 60 days."

"When she decides they're able to move around well, their eyes are open and they're ready to experience a little more of the world, she'll say 'Let's go' and take them out...and soon after she'll start teaching them how to swim."

DNA tests performed later will indicate which of the zoo's two male otters is the pups' father.

The pups will live at the zoo for at least a year. Keepers will then decide if they'll stay or be transferred to another zoo, the Calgary Sun reported.