THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 14, 1996 TAG: 9603140315
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
``Tango'' and ``Cash,'' the Virginia Marine Science Museum's first river otters, are living a country-club lifestyle of sorts.
Their food - including smelt, chicken and mice - is prepared and served to them.
They play in a pool with balls and a tire swing.
They're protected from their natural predators, except perhaps the camera-wielding tourist.
While it's not their natural environment, it's the only environment they know.
The brothers, now 2 to 3 years old, were illegally plucked from their mother's nest along the James River as pups and never have learned the behavior critical to surviving in the wild.
Upon learning of their capture, wildlife authorities rescued them and placed them in a rehabilitation center in Winchester. That's where they remained until the museum took charge of them last month.
The new otter exhibit, which will not be open to the public until later next month, is part of the museum's on-going $35 million expansion.
``The Virginia Marine Science Museum is a perfect location to house these animals,'' said William ``Chip'' Harshaw, a mammal supervisor.
``Since Tango and Cash were rescued very young, they did not learn the skills they need to survive on their own. By living at the river otter habitat, we will avoid any problems they might face if released into the wild, and we can learn about them, too.''
The otters are the museum's first live mammals. River otters are protected by federal law, and a permit is required to keep them.
Tango and Cash are the first of five otters that will call the museum's new river otter habitat home. Tango is the larger of the two, weighing about 26 pounds. He tends to make chirping sounds. Cash is about 23 pounds and grunts. Both are about 3 1/2 feet long.
While the habitat, inside the museum's new Owls Creek Marsh Pavilion, is under construction, the otters are living in a small house on the site.
They will be joined in a few weeks by three other male otters from a sanctioned otter farm in Louisiana. All the otters will be male, Harshaw said, because male otters live in groups in the wild.
The otters will be displayed to the public when their habitat is finished in at least another month.
The habitat recreates their natural environment, complete with water, marsh and a mud slide. Visitors will be able to watch the otters swim, groom and interact as they would in the wild. Viewing areas include an outdoor walkway and indoor staging area.
The otters are an ideal exhibit for the Owls Creek Marsh Pavilion because its not widely known that they are common to the marsh behind the building.
``They tie into the focus of the whole building,'' said Alice Scanlan, a museum spokesperson. ``People really don't know what's out there other than the plants, mud and water.''
Harshaw is working to train Tango and Cash to follow some simple commands that will enable the museum to better care for them.
``We are in the process of teaching them how to live here in their new environment,'' Harshaw said.
Through training, the otters will be able to sit on a scale to be weighed, open their mouths for oral check-ups, and remain still for physical examinations. It also enables their handlers to move them from one area of the habitat to another. Plus, the training provides mental stimulation and physical exercise.
Animal training, also known as behavioral enrichment, is becoming standard in zoos and aquariums, Harshaw said.
``The goal is to do the best we can to make sure they have a quality environment,'' he said.
The river otter exhibit is the next attraction to open as part of the museum's expansion, which will triple its size. The expansion debuted in January with the opening of the Owls Creek Marsh Pavilion. The otter habitat and an aviary will open in spring.
The bulk of the expansion will open in early summer and include a 300,000-gallon ocean aquarium, a 70,000-gallon sea turtle aquarium, a sea turtle hatching laboratory and one of the country's first 3D IMAX theaters. MEMO: THE RIVER OTTER
The river otter is a long, semi-aquatic member of the weasel family
with a short blunt snout, obvious whiskers and small eyes and ears. It
has short thick legs and webbed toes. Its long tail is thick at the base
and tapers to the tip. Its brown and gray fur is short and dense.
Adults are 3 to 4 feet long and weigh between 15 and 25 pounds.
Females are smaller than males.
They are commonly found at the ends of rivers and streams, where
there is a good food supply, clean water and relatively low levels of
human disturbance.
Otters are considered opportunistic eaters, consuming whatever is
available to them including fish, salamanders, crabs and amphibians.
They are considered extremely intelligent. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by STEVE EARLEY, The Virginian-Pilot
Technician Cecilia Hutton works with Tango, one of two otters at the
new Owls Creek Marsh Pavilion at the Virginia Marine Science Museum.
Tango and his brother, Cash, were illegally plucked from their
mother's nest along the James River.
by CNB