Giant otter born at Yorkshire Wildlife Park

Sleeping baby giant otterImage source, Yorkshire Wildlife Park
Image caption,

Sleep tight! Baby Mateo has been welcomed to Yorkshire Wildlife Park

A giant otter baby has been born in Yorkshire Wildlife Park.

Its parents, Alexander and Orimar, now have their hands full raising five pups.

The wildlife park has named the newest pup Mateo, and released an adorable picture of him.

Giant otters are extremely rare - they are native to the Amazon rainforest and are currently considered to be endangered.

Meet the family

Image source, Yorkshire Wildlife Park
Image caption,

Baby Mateo is tiny now, but he can grow up to 1.6 metres long

Mateo's parents, Alexander and Orimar, arrived at Yorkshire Wildlife Park in 2019. Since then they have had one baby, called Bonita, followed by a set of triplets.

The family lives in a habitat made especially for otters, including a natural lake, plenty of grass and a house with a controlled climate for otters.

Mateo hasn't quite made it out to the lake yet - because it's still quite cold - but he has been having fun in the indoor pool with his siblings.

Did you know?

Adult giant otters can consume up to 4kg of fish a day

Yorkshire Wildlife Park says it is home to the largest number of giant otters in Europe. It says the endangered species has reduced by around 70% in the last 10 years, in their home in South America.