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Fourth and Fifth Sea Otter Pups Born to Surrogate-Reared Otters

The Aquarium routinely raises stranded sea otter pups behind the scenes using surrogate mothers, and then releases them to the wild. In April, two of these surrogate-reared otters give birth to pups of their own. They are the fourth and fifth pups born to surrogate-reared otters, and represent yet more success stories for the Aquarium’s Sea Otter Research and Conservation (SORAC) program.

“These births and the successful weaning of pups in the wild by surrogate-reared individuals is significant because it indicates that these sea otters are not only surviving following release, but also contributing reproductively to the wild population,” says Animal Care Coordinator Karl Mayer with SORAC. “This is the benchmark of successful rehabilitation and reintroduction efforts.”

Read about the otters in our SeaNotes blog

Learn more about SORAC