When animals come into areas of human settlements, things can get quite confusing. For this poor little baby otter, trouble was what it faced at a marina in Singapore.
ZooToby, as the six-week-old otter was named, got separated from his family at its natural Holt, and fell into a canal at a Singaporean marina. Being so young, he struggled to stay afloat and was rescued by Mr. Patrick Ng, who was a retiree who happened to be nearby.
The little one was placed back in its natural Holt, but after supervision and careful monitoring, it was noticed by the Otterwatch group that the marina family had not returned after ten hours had passed. The six-week-old baby otter needed care and was transferred to the Wildlife Reserves Singapore, where it could receive the care and attention it needed.
You can tell from the video that the cute little otter was ravenous and hungrily drank up all the milk that was fed to it. This young little otter was kept at the WRS for a few more days in which he was fed regularly, given a Vitamin B injection, and was also dewormed. When he looked strong enough, the decision to reintroduce the pup back to its family.
Almost a week had passed, and a reintroduction effort, led by Mr. Sivasothi N. Aka the Otterman from NUS, the Otter Working Group and members of National Parks Board, WRS, OtterWatch, and wildlife enthusiasts was created. Many attempts were made in finding locating strategic locations where the otter family would notice the baby otter.
With many watchers deployed all over the coast, an opportunity arose at a beach where the marina otter family was present. This beach is not one of the best I’ve seen with garbage and litter all over the sandy beach, but this was to be the place of reuniting the lost member with its family. Leaving the baby on the beach, its squeals soon drew the family to it, after which they quickly ran away, taking their little one with them. ZooToby was finally home. I loved watching this video simply because the baby was so cute, the rescue efforts so genuine and from the heart and the story so touching.
