Herberstein Wildlife Park / Otter

Lutra lutra

A Life in the Water

As an adaptation to life in the water, otters have a streamlined body, webbed feet, closable ears and nostrils, and an extremely dense coat. They have about 50,000 hairs per cm². By comparison, humans have about 120 hairs per cm² on their heads.

Did you know?

The otter has a high metabolic rate. It eats 400 to 1,200 grams of fish every day. That is roughly 10 percent of its body weight.

Order	Predators
Family	Marten
Distribution	across large parts of Asia and Europe
Habitat	standing and flowing bodies of water, such as rivers, streams, lakes, swamps, estuaries, and seashores
Food	Fish, amphibians, waterfowl, crustaceans, small mammals, insects
Activity	Phases of Activity During the Day and at Night
Weight	4–12 kg
Size	60–90 cm plus 25–40 cm tail length
Service life	up to 13 years old
Reproduction	Males reach sexual maturity at 2 years of age, females at 3 years; the mating season is between February and March. After a 2-month gestation period, 1–3 young are born. The young weigh less than 100 grams at birth and are nursed for 2–4 months. They learn hunting techniques from their mother. They do not leave her until they are about 14 months old.
Risk	potentially at risk
Enemies	stray dogs, wolves, lynx, ospreys

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