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Asian Small-clawed Otters
(Amblonyx cinerea)
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Asia Trail
Asia Trail's otters make playing a major priority. In their new habitat, which is one of the largest for Asian small-clawed otters in the United States, they splash around in a waterfall, dive and swim in a glass-fronted pool, and catch some rays on the banks of a stream. As they frolic, listen for the dozen or more different vocalizations they use to communicate with each other.

Asian small-clawed otters
Asian small-clawed otters like to sun themselves on the banks of streams and rivers. (Jessie Cohen/NZP)

It's not all fun and games for Asia Trail's six male otters, though: They've got some learning to do in the habitat's Otter Training Station. Watch as Zoo scientists and keepers teach them to present their feet, open their mouths, and hold still for veterinary exams, just like the giant pandas at the Fujifilm Giant Panda Habitat.

In south Asia's coastal waters, estuaries, and creeks, Asian small-clawed otters live in family groups consisting of one breeding pair and its offspring. All the family members help raise the breeding pair's young pups, which are born helpless and are blind for the first 40 days of their lives. The National Zoo hopes to breed Asian small-clawed otters in the future, so that a family group can live on Asia Trail.

Get to Know Asian Small-clawed Otters

  • The IUCN lists Asian small-clawed otters as near-threatened due to rapid habitat destruction and pollution.
  • Asian small-clawed otters are the smallest of the world's 13 otter species.
  • With the stiff whiskers on their snouts, Asian small-clawed otters can detect the movement of prey in the water, which helps them hunt in murky conditions.
  • The partial webbing on the paws of Asian small-clawed otters makes them agile swimmers and also gives them better manual dexterity than otters with fully webbed paws. While some otters catch prey with their mouths, Asian small-clawed otters grab invertebrates, fish, frogs, and snakes with their forepaws.
  • Asian small-clawed otters have large, broad teeth for cracking open the shells of mollusks and crabs. Sometimes, they put shellfish on rocks and wait for the heat of the sun to open the shells, then devour what's inside.
  • A layer of waterproof fur insulates Asian small-clawed otters from cold water and keeps an inner layer of their fur dry.
  • Asian small-clawed otters sometimes play a game of "fetch" with themselves, throwing pebbles into the water and diving in to retrieve them before they sink to the bottom.

ZooGoer 35(5) 2006. Copyright 2006 Friends of the National Zoo. All rights reserved.

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