Three orphaned baby otters play together in heartwarming video at North Carolina Zoo

Three orphaned otter pups are now a "foster" family at the North Carolina Zoo.

The North American river otters were recently found in eastern North Carolina and are now being cared for at the North Carolina Zoo's Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, the zoo said in a news release on Wednesday, which is World Otter Day.

The hope is that the otters can eventually be released into the wild, the zoo said.

One of the otters, a 14-16 week old female, was rescued from a parking lot in Raeford in early May by A Wild Life: Center for Wildlife Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release, and brought to the zoo on May 12, according to the release.

The other two, both males, were rescued by Outer Banks Wildlife Shelter in Newport and came to the zoo on May 13. One is about 6 weeks old and was found in a roadway after heavy rain. The other is abut 8 weeks old, and was found near a bridge after its mother was hit by a car, the zoo says.

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The three have now "joined together as a group" to get ready to return to the wild together, the release says.

A heartwarming video from the North Carolina Zoo shows the three pups, who seem happy as a group, eating and excitedly playing together.

Halley Buckanoff, the Wildlife Center's veterinarian technician, said in the release that releasing them together can "boost their chance of success."

"Creating these foster families allows them to socialize with their species, and the younger ones often learn from their older 'siblings,'" Buckanoff said in the release. "Right now, they're sleeping together, eating alongside each other with no signs of competition, and swimming together. They're doing great as a group."

The otters were rescued without too much human contact, making them ideal for rehabilitation and release. They also didn't have any obvious signs of illness or injury, the zoo says.

"We are caring for them as hands-off as possible because we want to preserve their natural behaviors to ensure they have a better chance of surviving in the wild," Dr. Jb Minter, director of animal health, said in the release.

The zoo, which is still closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, expects to release the otters in the late summer or early fall and will do so along with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, the release says.

Until then, the pups will transition from formula to solid food and then to catching their own fish, the zoo says.

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©2020 The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)

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RIP RESCUED RABBIT. WHAT HAPPENED !

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