Otter family update
As part of an important wider conservation breeding programme, all Asian short-clawed otter cubs born here at WWT Washington could potentially move on to other animal collections one day.
And as followers of #JuBY will know, Mimi and Musa’s first-born cub Ruby did just that; successfully giving birth to her own three cubs at Peak Wildlife Park last year, making her one of the youngest ever captive-bred female ASCOs to do so.
With a mixture of excitement and sadness, that day has now also come for Ash, our distinctive and beautiful female cub born in March 2016 along with brothers Tod, Pip and Sam.
Since she and her siblings were born, we have been liaising with the studbook keeper – who holds records of where all ASCO collections are – to identify suitable new homes for them, with the trio of boys moving to WWT London last September.
In the last couple of weeks it has become clear that Ash needs to move on too, having reached sexual maturity and changing the dynamic within her family unit.
After contacting the studbook keeper, we were quickly able to find her a new home (news of her destination to follow!) and as of today she has been taken off show for necessary health checks and to have some alone time in preparation for her big move.
Ideally we’d have given our visitors notice that she would be leaving because we know how fond of her you are. Ideally we’d have all liked to say goodbye properly too. However, as responsible animal keepers, we have to plan moves around the needs of the animals within the conservation breeding programme.
As with her big sister Ruby, we’ll be keeping you up-to-date with Ash’s progress and we can’t wait to see what exciting things her future holds.
We’d also like to take this opportunity to congratulate our living collection team on rearing another happy, healthy and genetically strong otter who now has the chance to play a vital part in the future conservation of her species.
Hear more about Ash and our engaging Asian short-clawed otter family during your visit with twice daily talks at 11.30am and 3pm.
