Cikananga Wildlife Center and Wanicare are assisting to 1) study the ecology of otters in their natural habitat, and 2) continue rehabilitation at Cikananga with the goal to successfully release them in protected reserves.
Otters in the wild
To study otters in the wild, our biologist is studying their ecology at three different sites. For their ecology study we will focus on the otters activity patterns, habitat use, home range sizes and ideally also behavioral observations to assist us to create a behavioral repertoire to correspond with otters under-going rehabilitation. These sites all have different protection statuses and therefore different threats can be measured.
Otters at Cikananga
When a new otter arrives at Cikananga it undergoes a health assessment, with samples taken to test for various infectious diseases and parasites. It then will undergo a 30 day quarantine to monitor the health and await screening results. Cikananga is currently starting with appropriate otter quarantine facilities. Once they have cleared quarantine, otters are transferred to the Otter Rehabilitation Facility. This facility has 4 inside enclosures, 3 smaller outdoor enclosures, and 2 large rehabilitation enclosures. The rehabilitation enclosures are covered in natural vegetation, have swimming pools and burrows. When otters are in rehabilitation we aim to stimulate natural behavior, monitored by camera trap footage, whether they show appropriate behaviors such as social behaviors, nesting behavior, marking territories and hunting.