Otter Diet and Biology

Diet

The Smooth-coated Otter is predominantly a fish eater, but supplements its diet with shrimps, crabs and insects, and other vertebrates such as frogs, mudskippers, birds and rats. The range of fish in the diet varies from 75-100%. They eat mostly small to medium-sized fish of length varying between 5-15 cm as larger fish are more difficult to catch.

Biology

The Smooth-coated Otter attains sexual maturity at 22 months in captivity. Breeding takes place during August to December. It gives birth after a gestation period of around 60 – 62 days. The litter size ranges between 2-5. At four weeks the eyes open, and at six weeks they begin to learn to swim. After five months, the young are weaned and at one year, they will often disperse to find home ranges of their own. The longest recorded life span in captivity is around 20 years and five months.