Otters in Major American Zoos

[snowleopard]

The book that I cowrote, titled America’s Top 100 Zoos & Aquariums, contains reviews and photos of 80 zoos and 20 aquariums. There are 68 out of the 80 zoos with a type of otter, and 15 out of the 20 aquariums with otters. That means that 83% of the zoos and aquariums in the book have otters, with some facilities having more than one species. (A special thanks to both @EsserWarrior and @TinoPup in compiling the otter information)

The 11 lists that I've completed this year:

71 out of the 80 zoos have giraffes
68 out of the 80 zoos have otters (plus 15 out of 20 aquariums)
66 out of the 80 zoos have zebras
61 out of the 80 zoos have rhinos
54 out of the 80 zoos have elephants
48 out of the 80 zoos have penguins (plus 16 out of 20 aquariums)
47 out of the 80 zoos have orangutans
45 out of the 80 zoos have gorillas
35 out of the 80 zoos have pinnipeds (plus 12 out of 20 aquariums)
25 out of the 80 zoos have chimpanzees (plus 7 zoos have bonobos)
22 out of the 80 zoos have common hippos (plus 12 have pygmy hippos)

Here are the 83 zoos and aquariums (in the book) with otters:

North American River Otter (50 holders)

ABQ BioPark
Akron
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Audubon
Birmingham
Brookfield
Buffalo
Caldwell
Cameron Park
Cheyenne Mountain
Cincinnati
Columbus
Detroit
Florida Aquarium
Fort Wayne
Fort Worth
Gladys Porter
Henry Vilas
Houston
John Ball
Kansas City
Knoxville
Lincoln Park
Little Rock
Maryland
Miami
Milwaukee County
Minnesota
Montgomery
North Carolina
Oakland
Oklahoma City
Oregon
Pittsburgh
Riverbanks
Roger Williams Park
Rosamond Gifford
Sacramento
Saint Louis
San Francisco
Seattle Aquarium
Sedgwick County
Smithsonian’s National Zoo
Tampa
Tennessee Aquarium
Texas State Aquarium
Toledo
Topeka
Tulsa
Utah's Hogle

Asian Small-clawed Otter (27 holders)
Audubon
Bronx
Brookfield
Cleveland
Columbus
Dallas
Denver
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Georgia Aquarium
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Houston
Lincoln Park
Memphis
Miami
Omaha
Point Defiance
San Antonio
Santa Barbara
SeaWorld Orlando
SeaWorld San Antonio
SeaWorld San Diego
Smithsonian’s National Zoo
Tanganyika Wildlife Park
Virginia
Wildlife World
Woodland Park

Sea Otter (12 holders)
Aquarium of the Pacific (nereis)
Georgia Aquarium (nereis)
Minnesota Zoo (kenyoni)
Monterey Bay Aquarium (nereis)
New York Aquarium (nereis, kenyoni)
Oregon Coast Aquarium (nereis)
Oregon Zoo (nereis)
Pittsburgh Zoo (kenyoni)
Point Defiance Zoo (nereis, kenyoni)
Seattle Aquarium (kenyoni)
SeaWorld San Diego (nereis)
Shedd Aquarium (nereis, kenyoni)

Giant Otter (10 holders)
Atlanta
Birmingham
Dallas World Aquarium
Houston
Jacksonville
Los Angeles
Miami
Moody Gardens
Philadelphia
Roger Williams Park

Spotted-necked Otter (7 holders)
Fresno Chaffee
Little Rock
Omaha
Phoenix
Reid Park
San Diego
SeaWorld San Antonio

Here are the 12 zoos that do not have otters:

Binder Park
Busch Gardens
Central Park
Como Park
El Paso
Great Plains
Honolulu
Indianapolis
Living Desert
Louisville
Nashville
San Diego Zoo Safari Park

Here are the 5 aquariums that do not have otters:

Adventure Aquarium
California Academy of Sciences
Mystic Aquarium
National Aquarium
New England Aquarium

Choosing my favourite otter exhibits out of over 100 examples was a daunting task, as there are so many otter enclosures that are all quite similar. In the end, I went down the list and came up with a dozen that really stood out to me from my memory of visiting the zoo or aquarium. I’ve personally seen 11 out of these 12 exhibits, with only Houston (a brand-new exhibit) one that I’m evaluating from photos.

My 12 favourite otter exhibits (in alphabetical order):

Buffalo (NARO)
Houston (giant otter)
Los Angeles (giant otter)
Maryland (NARO)
Miami (giant otter)
Minnesota (sea otter)
Moody Gardens (giant otter)
Oakland (NARO)
Oregon Coast Aquarium (sea otter)
Oregon Zoo (sea otter)
Smithsonian’s National Zoo (Asian small-clawed otter)
Woodland Park (NARO)

 

[DavidBrown]

The Central Park Zoo used to have river otters. When did that change? Was the snow leopard exhibit built on the former otter exhibit footprint?

 

[snowleopard]

The Central Park Zoo used to have river otters. When did that change? Was the snow leopard exhibit built on the former otter exhibit footprint?

Yes, the snow leopard exhibit (2009) was built on the old river otter area. When I visited Central Park Zoo in the summer of 2008 the otters had gone and so the zoo hasn't had otters in a very long time now.

Of the other zoos lacking otters, Indianapolis Zoo had Asian small-clawed otters mixed with gibbons until recently, but now it seems that the otters are no longer at the zoo. There's no excuse for a zoo not to have otters (), as those animals make for wonderful displays for the public and they are inexpensive to maintain in captivity. (Although sea otters might cost a bit in food consumption)

 

[Coelacanth18]

Smithsonian's NARO exhibit also looks good IMO, it reminds me of both the ASCO exhibit at the same zoo and of the NARO exhibits you highlighted, albeit with a smaller pool space.

Photo credit to @BeardsleyZooFan

Of the other zoos lacking otters, Indianapolis Zoo had Asian small-clawed otters mixed with gibbons until recently, but now it seems that the otters are no longer at the zoo. There's no excuse for a zoo not to have otters, as those animals make for wonderful displays for the public and they are inexpensive to maintain in captivity.

Given some past conflicts and unfortunate incidents when mixing otters and primates, I personally lean towards Indy having a pretty good excuse for phasing them out - although I suppose they could potentially carve out a standalone otter exhibit in that Forest section. Of course, I have no idea if this has anything to do with why they're gone or if there were any problems with mixing them at that particular zoo.

 

[Aardwolf]

The best otter exhibits that I've seen are the ones in which the designers remembered that otters aren't furry fish - they do spend plenty of time on land when given the chance. I've always gotten a kick out of seeing otters climb low branches, dig in dirt, and do other things besides just loop back and forth in a pool. The worst otter exhibits I've seen have tended to be museum habitats where the planners wanted a live animal attraction, they knew what they wanted the visitor to see, but they didn't know how to build for the animals.

Unrelated, I was sorry to see Toledo doesn't have the spot-necks anymore (it's been a while since I was there). I enjoyed that exhibit.

 

[robbare]

Houston has giant river otters in their Pantanal exhibit that opened recently:
South America’s Pantanal, The Houston Zoo

 

[Julio C Castro]

One of the jewels from the recent master plans at the LA Zoo brought forth a fantastic habitat for giant otters, one of the highlights of the mixed received Rainforest of the Americas. The otters have non stop fun, entertaining guests as well as having added enrichment of a piranha tank by the biggest pool. I do hope the upper level opens up again soon, it give a good panoramic view of their home and seeing 3 sleek otters sliding down is always a crowd pleaser!