Saving Israel's Otters

Hello Valued Supporters,

After the sad death of one of our males, our team continues to work towards breeding success for this locally endangered species.

Our zoological team has successfully introduced our remaining male to both females in our breeding center. The team monitors the otters via infrared camera during night hours as these animals are nocturnal. Unfortunately, no pregnancy has yet resulted.

In the meanwhile, visitors to the breeding center see the male active in the water (see video below) and continue to be educated by our signage, guides and keeper talks about the importance of saving our precious aquatic habitats and the creatures that call them home.

Yours in hope,

Team Otter at the Jerusalem Zoo

Links:

• Male otter in the breeding center

Hello to all of our valued supporters,

We are very sad to report that we have had yet another setback in this breeding and conservation program. One of our male otters has sadly died. As we have reported previously, these animals are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity however we have no choice given the dire situation of river otters in the wild in Israel.

Our team is now in the process of introducing the remaining male to the other female.

You will recall that in our last report we showed that mating had taken place with one of the breeding pairs. Our staff counted the days from that event however we were disappointed to find that no pregnancy resulted.

We continue to persevere and hope to have better news in our next report.

Warmly,

Team Otter at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo