A zoo in Yorkshire, England, announced the "surprise" birth of endangered giant otter triplets -- the second such litter in only 18 months.
The zoo said latest triplets came as a surprise to zookeepers and the babies are a welcome addition to the facility's ongoing conservation program for the species, which has been listed as endangered since 1999.
"We are overjoyed at welcoming a second litter of giant otters in such a short time," Kelsie Wood, the zoo's aquatics team leader, said in a news release. "Giant otters don't always breed easily and every birth is a significant and valuable one for the breeding program."
Wood said the babies born in 2022 are being looked after by their big sister, Bonita, to allow Alexandra to tend to her newborns.
"She will keep a careful eye on the pups as they start exploring. At the moment, they are mainly staying indoors," Wood said.Giant otters, native to the Amazon basin in South America, are under threat from poaching, deforestation and gold mining. There are only an estimated 5,000 giant otters remaining in the wild.
Hunting giant otters, which are prized for their meat and waterproof fur, was banned in 1973.
