Arirahna, a female giant otter born in september 2013 in Bioparc Zoo de Doué (France), will leave Europe tomorrow (january 5th) for Argentina. She will be joined by a male coming from Parken Zoo (Sweden).
Giant otter female Alondra has died in Argentina. She contracted a salmonella infection that she did not survive. How she got the infection is not known. Alondra was 11 years old. Together with male Coco, she gave birth to three young in 2021. The hope was that they would have another litter so that they could be released as a family later. Her death means the reintegration project will be delayed a bit.
Before a new female can be introduced to Coco, the three cubs have to be moved to other locations. The three cubs are two males and one female. The female will be moved to another area in Argentina, where a wild male giant otter was spotted last year. It is hoped that the female can then form a pair with that male.
There are also plans to bring female giant otters from North American zoos to Argentina. Of these, one could be introduced to Coco, and another to one of his male cubs in a new pre-release pen to be built.
Good news from Argentina! A pair of giant otters consisting of two animals born in European zoos has had four cubs. The pair is part of the reintroduction project at Iberá Park. The parents are male Nanay from Parken Zoo in Sweden and female Ariranha from Zoo de Doue la Fontaine in France. The cubs are two males and two females. The intention is that they will be released back into the wild as a large family group in the future.
With the birth of the new cubs, there are now 13 giant otters participating in this project.
The 8-year-old giant otter female Rosario recently left Los Angeles Zoo for Argentina to join the reintroduction project. She is currently still in quarantine. After this, she will move to a pre-release enclosure together with a male. The hope is that they will then form a large otter family that can be released into the wild.
Rosario is the first giant otter from North America to join this project.
For the introduction project, AquaZoo Leeuwarden in the Netherlands was asked by the EEP to test a GPS transmitter. This test was done earlier this year and with a few adjustments to the transmitter's harness, it was successful. Since then, Rewilding Argentina has also succeeded in fitting a number of their giant otters with a transmitter. This means that after a few more minor adjustments to the transmitter, the giant otters can be released into the wild next year.
For the first time, a family group of giant otters from Rewilding Argentina has been released in Ibéra Park. On June 30, the gate was opened to release Coco and Nima, who came from European zoos, and their two cubs, Pirú and Kyra, from their pre-release enclosure. This is the first attempt to reintroduce this species to a place where it has disappeared. It is also the first attempt to bring back a mammal species that has become extinct in Argentina. It has been almost 40 years since the last family of giant otters was observed in Argentina.
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