OTTERS

[Zylos]

Two best friend otters living together in a zoo in Nelson for over a decade have both died of a heart attack on the same night. The elderly otters were always together and it's thought the stress of one dying killed the other.

Zookeeper John Miller says Daz and Chip were the best of friends for 15 years. The Asian otters – both male – lived and died at Naturelands Zoo in Nelson. Their company kept them going well beyond a normal otter lifespan of around 14 years – Daz was 19 and Chip 16 – according to handler Gail Sutton; that's nearly 100 in human years.

"They were a great pair of otters; they were interested in what was happening," she says. The pair had been unwell for a couple of weeks but after completing treatment they returned to their enclosure last night only to be discovered dead this morning.

"We were devastated and we couldn't work out quite what had happened with them," she says. "It brought a tear to my eye and it's making me well up now," says Mr Miller.

Both died of a heart attack within an hour of each other – the second probably brought on by the stress of watching his mate die. "The only consolation from this is that they both went together because if one had gone without the other, the remaining one would have been really lost," says Ms Sutton.

Natureland staff hope to get new otters as part of their breeding programme once they've got over the loss of Daz and Chip.

Source

[Moss.]

 

[Roph]

 

[Grafikal]

 

[bubu]

 

[firerain]

[Jules]

What they all said. =(

[Holkeye]

This happens with people all the time. When it happens to otters, though, my heart makes a hurt sound.

[Irock]

Otters don't do bad things.

[Mr_Wiggles]

they did live a decently long life...

[Moss.]

Otters don't do bad things.

Maybe not, but they certainly do some things badly. Like long division. And playing the sax.

[Grafikal]

But they know how to use tools! lol

[Holkeye]

Cracking an urchin open with a rock doesn't equal intelligence. It just equals adaptation.

PS. The first time I saw this topic, I thought it was about the OTHERS!

[Grafikal]

I feel like that's not adaption at all. If they were to adapt, they'd adapt by changing themselves not by using a tool to do something they want. No?

And they're damn cute  

[Holkeye]

They've adapted to the fact that urchins have shells.