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Guyana
Hydrophobic giant otter babies up for diving course at the orphanage
"When they’re little, they’re afraid of water and paddle around awkwardly like young puppies," says Diane McTurk. At her Karanambu ranch in the south-west of Guyana, the animal lover teaches orphaned giant otters to swim and dive, getting them ready for real life out in the wild. Yet despite all efforts the outcome is at times tragic...
By Bernhard Grdseloff
By Bernhard Grdseloff
Karanambu-Lodge: Diane Mc Turk with giant otter baby
"The cubs run the greatest risk when they meet adult otters" explains McTurk. "Time and again, male otters kill young species of the same sex out in the river." The rancher lost four of her fosterlings that way, and another two fell victims to caimans. Mind you, out of 37 webbed orphans she’s brought up so far, that’s not such a bad failure rate at all.
The baby otters are hardly a few weeks old when they come to Karanambu. "Sometimes the mother leaves them back, or she dies," McTurk presumes. She accommodates the pipsqueaks in her bathroom, bottle-feeds them and gives them bits of fish to eat. One person at the ranch does nothing else all day but catch fish for these moustached pupils.
The giant otters express their gratitude in their own special way: "Some of my babies return to the river bank each year to visit me, and their whole family comes along too," the foster-mum tells us. A slightly scary experience for guests staying at Karanambu Lodge - grown to their full size, these ‘babies’ are a good two meters long, and their teeth are as sharp as a jaguar’s.
The baby otters are hardly a few weeks old when they come to Karanambu. "Sometimes the mother leaves them back, or she dies," McTurk presumes. She accommodates the pipsqueaks in her bathroom, bottle-feeds them and gives them bits of fish to eat. One person at the ranch does nothing else all day but catch fish for these moustached pupils.
The giant otters express their gratitude in their own special way: "Some of my babies return to the river bank each year to visit me, and their whole family comes along too," the foster-mum tells us. A slightly scary experience for guests staying at Karanambu Lodge - grown to their full size, these ‘babies’ are a good two meters long, and their teeth are as sharp as a jaguar’s.