Wild otter checks itself into zoo

When the keepers shut down the otter exhibit at Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens on Sunday, they left one otter out in the exhibit overnight.

When they came back to open up on Monday morning, there were two.

There wasn’t a birth. A wild North American river otter had found its way in to make itself part of the exhibit.



Craig Miller, curator of mammals, said that’s the first time he’s heard of that happening at the zoo.

“We get birds or squirrels coming in, of course,” he said. “And we may find possum remains in the lion yard. But never this.”

He’s not exactly sure how the otter got in, but the exhibit is primarily designed to make sure the animals inside don’t get out. There’s a gently sloped hill behind the exhibit, and he figures maybe the otter climbed that and squeezed between the gate and the fence. Once it got to the top of the wall, there was a six- or eight-foot jump down to the water.