AssetID: 54984220
Headline: RAW VIDEO: Abandoned baby otter 'the size of a Coke can' completes 'miracle' survival tale
Caption: A tiny otter cub found in North Wales weighing less than a can of fizzy drink has survived and is now thriving thanks to his rescuers. Found near Bala in North Wales by members of the public, the wild animal weighed just 340 grams, lighter than your lunchtime Diet Coke. He was estimated to be under seven weeks old. At this age, and with his eyes still closed, survival without his mother was almost impossible. Given the name Idris - meaning “ardent lord” in Welsh - passers-by first heard his high-pitched squeaks near a small, overgrown stream. His mother was nowhere to be found - likely having been killed on a nearby road. Knowing his chances were slim, the caring locals contacted the charity which provided urgent advice and came to the rescue. For the next few days, Idris was kept alive on milk until he was strong enough to be handed over to the UK Wild Otter Trust. In the care of expert hands, Idris was slowly weaned onto fish before being transferred to the charity’s Specialist Otter Rehabilitation Centre in North Devon. There he met two young otters close to his age, Scratch and Mingo. Mingo is something of a miracle himself. He was discovered in the most unlikely of places, wandering inside the flamingo habitat at Colchester Zoo. How he ended up there remains a mystery, but it makes for an extraordinary pairing: two young otters, each with survival stories that defy the odds, now learning and growing together on their road back to the wild. “These cases are incredibly rare,” says Dave Webb, founder and CEO of the UK Wild Otter Trust. “For an otter cub so young and so underweight to survive without its mother is remarkable. Idris has shown unbelievable strength, and now, alongside Mingo and Scratch, he has the best chance of living wild again. Idris is the smallest cub we’ve rescued who has managed to survive, so for all of us at the Centre, it’s a real victory to see him out of the woods and thriving” The UK Wild Otter Trust is run entirely by volunteers, with no one receiving payment for their tireless work in rescuing, rehabilitating, and releasing wild otters across the country. Over the coming months, the trio will undergo a long rehabilitation process, learning vital survival skills before their eventual release into the wild. Until then, they remain living proof that sometimes the smallest creatures can have the biggest will to live.
Keywords: otter,animals,feature,nature,rescue,cute
PersonInImage: Idris and his chums.