Who knew a baby otter can be so fluffy and adorable! The story of Pup 681 has gone viral so if you haven’t heard about this heartwarming story of rescuing an abandoned baby otter, this is one you’ll want check out.
Curious how they came up with the name for the Pup 681, her story begins with being abandoned at just a week old on September 30. She weighed less than 2 ½ pounds, apparently small for a baby otter, and had been separated from her mom for more than 16 hours. The Monterey Bay Aquarium found her alone on a California beach where they quickly started rehabilitation. It was critical she started consuming calories as quickly as possible in order for her survival.
Pup 681 made it to her new home at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium on October 28, where staff makes sure she has round-the-clock care to learn necessary otter life skills of grooming, foraging and feeding. Normally, sea otter pups stay with their mother as long as eight months so this little pup has a lot to learn.
The tiny pup – now 5 weeks old and weighs a healthy six pounds — is also learning how to regulate her body temperature by moving to a dry towel when she’s done swimming. She’s reaching new milestones every day like taking formula from a bottle and eating shrimp and clams.
Sea otters were listed as threatened under the U. S. Endangered Species Act in 1977, and have made a slow recovery in California. In 2014, the population was 2,944, a growth of five (that's right FIVE) from 2013, according to the United States Geological Survey.
For now, Pup 681 is still behind the scenes at the aquarium as she continues to grow. You can see her in action in the video above. Her squeaking sounds will simply melt your heart.
