The New Forest Otters, Owls and Wildlife Park

Sunday 9th October 2005

Orvus has left Chip to live with two brothers in a batchelor pen, and to make way for a new arrival from the Chestnut Centre. Lotus, an elderly otter formerly from the now-closed Gatwick Zoo, has come down to the New Forest Otter Retirement Home (!) to live with Chip. Both otters spared your reporter a few moments out of their busy schedule. They are getting on fine. Lotus is more confident but Chip is no pushover!  Being senior otters, they now live off exhibit in a retirement pen, and are in excellent condition. Lotus is receiving medical treatment for the tumour above her eye, but despite it is lively and happy. Chip must be about 19 now, which is very old for an otter, and is getting quite thin (compared to his former portly appearance), apart from his fat parsnip-tail!  .Both of them are a credit to the husbandry regime and keeper care.  It's nice to see older animals being just as loved and well-cared for even though their public days are over. The latest excitement for Chip and Lotus was a consignment of radishes, which turned out to have a surprisingly high entertainment value!  When I met them, they had just finished a crayfish and prawn meal and were ready to play. Click on the pictures for larger versions.

Chip came over to see me	Chip (front) and Lotus (behind) by the entrance to their holt	Chip and Lotus on patrol

Elsewhere in the park, Sammy the deer is once again on a diet and still as porky as ever. Giggsy and Digger, the North American River Otters are full of bounce and have a new water tub in their outside exhibit as well as the large pool in the Greenhouse.  When I first visited the park, they were supposed to be retired otters, who then promptly had a cub, Canuck, again supposed to be the last gleam of their twilight years, and then followed him up a few years later with Hudson and Jasper, who have moved on to their own pen. 

Echo and Tallisker, the two Eurasian (British) Otter brothers, also have a large tub outside now, as well as their indoor pool.  There are also two extended families of Asian Small-Clawed Otters to see, one of which has a tiny runt whom John gave supplemental fish milkshake feeds to in situ, rather than removing for hand-rearing - this strategy has been successful as it gives the runt the extra nutrition needed without disturbing the structure of the family, but is only possible because of a high degree of trust between keepers and otters at the park.

Monday 16th August 2004

Chip the Asian Small-Claw, the first otter I ever knew and sponsored, has returned to the "maximum security twilight home" (according the John Crook) at the New Forest.  He is off exhibit in the Carousel Yard, and is sharing with Orvus, who was born at the New Forest Owl Sanctuary at Ringwood.  Orvus, formerly known as Tyson, was hand-reared, and regards John as his dad!  Chip is an elderly otter now, with a funny fat tail like a parsnip.  He was born at Chester Zoo, and came to live at the park with his brother Sparky long ago.  After Chip and Sparky fell out, at about 14 years of age(!), they both went to live at the Chestnut Centre, where Sparky lived with Sixpence, one of the Heaps' hand-reared otters, and Chip lived first with Franky, who is going to America on breeding exchange, and then latterly with a blond otter called AG.  Sparky died a couple of months ago, and Chip has now returned to the New Forest.  I am very fond of Chip because he is an Otter with Attitude!  Orvus is also an otter with Clear Views on things, and is very people-friendly.  Chip was put in with Orvus, and they seem to get on fine.  Sometimes one of them is top otter, and sometimes the other is.  Chip is an old lad now, but still has a powerful voice and does not hold back in his opinions!  The Carousel Yard is off-exhibit, and is where the quarantine quarters are. 

There have been various reorganisations of the otters, and Fizzy and Feather have new cubs, swelling their family even more.  There is a second family of Small-Claws  in the Deer Park pens, next to Giggsy and Digger's cubs from last year.  The whole site is tidy, and new benches have been put in, which is nice.  Sam the deer is still on his diet but is not noticeably thinner!  While I was there, he stole a banana and ran off with it.  A new fallow fawn, found orphaned and probably born in July,  is being hand-reared - this one is called Loki after the Norse god of mischief so no one will be surprised if he follows in Sam's footsteps.

A very smart new guidebook has been produced, full of information about the park and how it came into being; the leaflets have also been redesigned, with Fizzy and Feather's newest cubs on the front.

Monday 5th April 2004

The park has just been made the national holding centre for orphan otters in England and Wales, and are working with the Environment Agency to test otter-proof fencing, and the best size for artificial holts (John Crooks, Centre Manager, ABWAK Symposium 13/14 March 2004).

Fizzy and Feather, the Asian Small-Claws, have had their second litter of cubs, bringing the whole family up to 11 otters! Fizzy was born at London Zoo in 1999, and Feather at Battersea in 2000; their first litter, all females, were born on 13 November 2003 (Ruby, Topax, Opal, Jade and Pearl); the second litter, which contains several males, was born on 22nd September 2003. Their pen has been run into the adjacent pen formerly occupied by Pluto and her family, to create a big area with lots of nest boxes, ponds, log piles, raised viewing platforms, tunnels and general fun for otters.

Odin the Lynx is still going strong, and was watching the public from his favourite rhododendron bush. Lots of people came by but didn't see him - but he saw them! We just missed his feed, so he was probably quietly digesting his dinner. You have to look for a while till you realise the bit of shadow under the bush is pink with black splodges - and then you see his ears, and suddenly, there he is, really obvious when you realise what you are looking at! Considering he was born in 1989, and came from Chester Zoo in 1999 as a retired lynx to spend his declining years, he seems to be doing well - every time we see him, he looks in better condition. The New Forest regime obviously suits him, and his pen is very well thought out, with lots of cover, and raised viewing platforms.

Giggsy and Digger, the North American River Otters, are alone again - their cubs from last year have been moved on. They seem quite small compared to mighty Toronto at Buckfast!

A whole range of new otter rehabilitation pens has been built, away from the public area, as the result of a gift from the Miss E.M. Peacock Will Trust.

The buzzards have gone, and the red squirrel enclosure is still empty. Sammy the deer who thinks he is a labrador is still on a diet.

Altogether, the park looks very smart, and lots of work has gone into the gardens, as well as the pens.