Runaway otter back with his family

Monday 04 April 2016

After more than three months away from his family, Geoff the escaping otter is safely back with his nearest and dearest at Durrell.

Keepers have re-introduced Geoff and his family after his quarantine was extended to cover some urgent repairs to the drains next to the otter enclosure.

Geoff went walkabout in December, and was eventually caught in St Catherine’s in mid-January after five weeks on the loose. Tests to make sure that he hadn’t picked up any bugs while out in the wild came back negative, giving keepers the green light to let him rejoin his little tribe.

Senior Mammal Keeper Chris Davies said: “As soon as we put Geoff’s crate in the corral area, his family ran up to the connecting tunnel squeaking in an inquisitive manner. Geoff’s dad Bulan was the first through and immediately ran up to Geoff, touching noses and reaching through to touch Geoff, who squeaked back and put his hands through in return.

“Eventually all the family went into the corral area and were making excited vocalisations and touching noses with Geoff.

“After half an hour of this initial interaction without any aggression, the crate was opened up. We scattered lots of food around as a distraction, which worked perfectly. The whole family began eating together and making contact noises.

“They appeared very happy to be back together.”