New Otter Pups at the Palm Beach Zoo

PALM BEACH - Two four-month old North American River Otter pups will make their first public appearance at the Palm Beach Zoo this Tuesday at 10:00am. The pups, named Wyatt and Jessie, each weighed less than a half-pound when they were born December 23, 2009. They opened their eyes in the third week of January. In late February their mom, Louise, began moving them closer to a water tub in her enclosure to teach them how to swim. Just a week after that they could swim and eat on their own. Now Wyatt and Jessie weigh more than seven pounds.

Louise was born in December of 1999 at the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. She came to the Palm Beach Zoo in October of 2000. The pups' father is named Sully. Sully was born in the wild and was donated to the Palm Beach Zoo in 2002 by the Bush Wildlife Sanctuary.