An orphaned sea otter pup rescued in critical condition in British Columbia last month is thriving under 24-hour care, but a veterinarian at the rescue facility says it含羞草研究社檚 unlikely she will ever be able to return to the wild.
The female pup, named Tofino after a vote conducted on social media, is being looked after at the Vancouver Aquarium含羞草研究社檚 Marine Mammal Rescue Society, where she has grown from about two kilograms to more than three kilograms.
Society executive director and head veterinarian Martin Haulena says Tofino is hitting many milestones in her recovery and growth, is eating well, and may transition from formula to solid food in a few weeks.
Haulena says Tofino has shown interest in diving when placed in the water and has improved her swimming, manual dexterity and self-grooming.
The pup was rescued alone near her namesake town on the west coast of Vancouver Island in mid-June.
Haulena says while the pup含羞草研究社檚 ultimate fate depends on Fisheries and Oceans Canada, orphaned otters are poor candidates for re-release because pups are typically taught how to survive in the wild by their mothers.
含羞草研究社淥tters are very, very dependent on their mom,含羞草研究社� Haulena says. 含羞草研究社淭hey learn a lot from their mom. They learn how to forage from their mom, learn where to forage, what to forage, how to use tools, how to dive and how to escape from predators. All (that) is very learned behaviour.含羞草研究社�
Rescuers do not know what became of Tofino含羞草研究社檚 mother but it is very unusual for pups to be abandoned.
含羞草研究社淪ea otter moms are meticulous and very caring mothers,含羞草研究社� Haulena says. 含羞草研究社淭hey are very responsive to their pups, so the assumption is 含羞草研究社� when there is an orphan pup 含羞草研究社� is that something bad has happened to mother.含羞草研究社�
A sea otter pup rescued in 2020, a male nicknamed Joey, was eventually transferred from the rescue society to Vancouver Aquarium after 33 days of care and is still housed there.
Haulena says the public attention on the rescue society generated by Tofino is the highest he has seen since Joey含羞草研究社檚 rescue in 2020, and the society is seeking donations to support the cost of caring for the pup and other animals at the centre.
He says the pup is no longer in critical condition, spending periods of 20 to 45 minutes in the water.
含羞草研究社淪he含羞草研究社檚 made a few attempts, but she can含羞草研究社檛 dive yet. And that含羞草研究社檚 very normal for a pup of her age, but in the next few weeks, I expect she will pick that up or certainly within the next month,含羞草研究社� Haulena says.
He says she is 含羞草研究社渙n track and doing well.含羞草研究社�
含羞草研究社淚含羞草研究社檝e been doing this for a lot of years, and I know that things can go wrong. So I含羞草研究社檓 always a little bit cautious, but I含羞草研究社檒l describe it as cautiously optimistic at this point.含羞草研究社�
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