Three Baby Otters Welcomed At Potter Park Zoo In Lansing

Some fun news coming out of Lansing's Potter Park Zoo as they announced via a news release that they have welcomed three baby otters to Nkeke and Miles, two of the zoo's North American river otters.

Fox 17 reports that the pups were born on February 3rd.  Two days later, zookeepers were able to do a physical exam of the pups two of which they believe are female and one that's a male, although they won't officially know for a bit more time has passed because as zoo officials told Fox 17, it's hard to tell gender this young.

Carolyn Schulte, Potter Park Zoo's otter keeper told Fox 17,

“This is Miles and Nkeke’s third litter of pups, and while each litter has been exciting, this one is especially so since it is their first set of triplets. Nkeke is an experienced mom and thanks to her excellent relationship with the keepers we have been able to monitor the pups’ growth closely to ensure they grow at a healthy rate.”

in case you're wondering, Fox 17 says that the pups will open their eyes around 5 weeks old, and then the very next week (or at 6 weeks old) they start playing and learning to swim.

Potter Park Zoo is open daily for visitors and if you do go visit anytime soon, chances are you'll only see Miles out in the public enclosure, as Nkeke and the pups are still out of view of visitors while Nkeke recovers and the pups grow, which Fox 17 reports could still be a couple of months. So just in time for a warm spring visit.