A 3-month-old river otter pup died Saturday at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Trout, born in late March along with his sister Dory, got wedged between a ramp and a platform, the zoo said online . Animal keepers got to the pup in under five minutes, but Trout could not be revived, the zoo said.
The zoo declined to elaborate on how Trout became wedged. The zoo said the ramp and platform have been used for years by adult and young otters and have never resulted in any injuries before. The zoo is reassessing and modifying the space.
“Our animal keeper team and staff are absolutely devastated. The passing of a beloved animal is never easy, but a loss like this is particularly emotional because we wish there was something else we could have done to save Trout,” Erin Sullivan, a curator who leads animal care for the otters, said in the zoo’s blog post. Animal keepers are providing extra attention and care to Valkyrie and Ziggy, Trout’s parents, as they adapt to the loss.
The pair had one previous litter, in 2019, according to the zoo. Ziggy, Valkyrie and the other otters “are doing well and are showing normal behaviors,” the zoo said in an email..
