Plan You Visit
Find out how to make the most of your trip and book tickets here.
Become a Member
Our membership package comes with lots of benefits including a year's unlimited free entry to both our parks!
You can join by post, phone or even today on the website.
Adopt an Animal!
Are you an ardent animal lover? looking for a gift idea?
Why not adopt an animal from either Edinburgh Zoo or Highland Wildlife Park for a whole year!
| Common Name: | Oriental small-clawed otter | Family: | Mustelidae |
| Latin Name: | Amblonyx cinereus cinereus | Diet: | Carnivore |
| Type: | Mammal | Habitat: | Oceans and wetlands |
| Native To: | Asia | Social Unit: | Group |
| IUCN Red List Status: | Vulnerable |
Oriental small-clawed otters at Edinburgh Zoo
Oriental small-clawed otter and pups © David Meikle
In September 2009, we received Ray, a male otter that came to us from the Longleat Safari Park in Longleat, Warminster. A female otter named Elena came to us from the New Forest Wildlife Park in Southampton in February 2010. Elena was born in 2004. She was slowly introduced to Ray, and they are now living together happily in the same enclosure. Keepers had observed the pair mating and in July 2010 Elena gave birth to a litter of three pups; two girls and one boy.
Our Oriental small-clawed otters have deluxe accommodations. In June 2002 we opened a new otter enclosure, which includes a waterfall and numerous pools where the otters spend much of their time playing and swimming. In 2003 the enclosure was featured on the prestigious Zoolex website, which is the highest accolade in international zoo design.
Our otters are fed a diet of sprats, chicks, mice and eggs daily. We also offer occasional enrichment feeds of novelty foods such as different fish, molluscs, and so on. Our otters are most active early in the morning, so get to the park early if you would like to see our otters out and about!
Where it can be found at Edinburgh Zoo
The oriental small-clawed otter enclosure is in the middle of the park, just north of the Mansion House.
Oriental small-clawed otters in the wild
The range of the Oriental small-clawed otter (Amblonyx cinereus cinereus) in the wild is quite large, stretching from India through Southeast Asia and up to the Philippines, Taiwan and southern China. Their range overlaps with those of smooth-coated otters and Eurasian otters in India.
Oriental small-clawed otters inhabit fresh water and peat swamp forests, rice fields, lakes, streams, reservoirs, canals and mangrove forests.
This species is the smallest otter species in the world, and is known for its extremely agile, hand-like front paws that feature the short claws that give the species its name. These front paws allow the otters to catch and dexterously utilise many types of prey, including crab, snails, molluscs, small fish and insects. They may even prey on other small rodents, snakes and amphibians.
Oriental small-clawed otters have brown fur with a lighter underside and a greyish-white face and neck. Like other otter species, they have a powerful, rudder-like tail that propels and steers them in the water.
Although most otter species tend to be solitary, Oriental small-clawed otters live in family groups consisting of an alpha breeding pair and older offspring that help to raise the young.
The numbers of Oriental small-clawed otters in the wild are declining due to many threats, including habitat loss and destruction due to farming, as well as water contamination due to insecticides entering streams from farm runoff. Overfishing of otters’ prey and contamination of prey due to pollution are two more significant threats to this species. Due to the declining population and the many threats this species faces, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has categorised the Oriental small-clawed otter as Vulnerable, meaning that the species is considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
IUCN Red List category: Vulnerable
View our other animal profiles: