100 Fun Facts About Otter Trivia for Kids

Otters belong to the same animal family as which of these?

The family is called Mustelidae. It also includes minks, martens and the wolverine.

What is special about an otter's feet that helps it swim?

Otters also have long, slim bodies and thick fur that traps air, which keeps them warm and helps them float.

What is a baby otter called?

The whole family helps look after it: mum, dad and the older brothers and sisters.

How old is a baby otter when it first learns to swim?

It leaves the den for the first time at about one month, and stays with its family for around a year.

An otter's home, dug under tree roots or rocks, is called what?

A lodge is a beaver's home and a sett is a badger's. Otter holts are often tucked under the roots of riverside trees.

What do most otters eat more than anything else?

They also snack on frogs, crayfish and crabs. In chilly water an otter needs to catch about 100 grams of fish every hour just to stay warm.

Otters love to play. Which of these do they really do for fun?

They also like to find small stones and play with them. Scientists think they do it just for enjoyment.

Roughly how long can an otter live?

River otters in zoos can live even longer, into their twenties.

Which kind of otter has the thickest fur of any animal in the world?

Up to 150,000 hairs fit in one square centimetre. Sea otters have no blubber, so the fur is what keeps them warm.

Sea otters are one of the few mammals that use tools. What tool do they use?

They bang clams and shellfish against a rock balanced on their chest to crack them open.

Where does a sea otter keep its favourite rock and the food it collects?

The loose pouch stretches across its chest, and most sea otters prefer to use the left one.

How does a resting sea otter avoid drifting out to sea?

Kelp is a huge seaweed that grows in underwater forests. Mothers wrap their pups in it too, like a seatbelt.

How does a sea otter eat its dinner?

It uses its front paws like hands to tear food apart and pop it into its mouth while lying on the water.

Sea otters love eating sea urchins. Why is that good for the underwater forests they live in?

Because otters keep the urchins in check, scientists call them a keystone species: take them away and the whole kelp forest can collapse.

Eating lots of spiny shellfish can turn a sea otter's teeth and bones what colour?

The otter bites through the underside of the urchin, where the spines are shortest, and licks out the inside.

A sea otter has to eat a huge amount every day. About how much?

That is like a child eating around 60 hamburgers a day. It needs the energy to stay warm in cold seas.

Why can't a newborn sea otter pup dive underwater?

Mum licks and fluffs the pup's fur for hours after it is born. It grows a grown-up coat later.

What does a sea otter pup sound like when it cries for its mother?

Mum leaves the pup floating on the surface while she dives for food, and it cries loudly until she comes back.

A group of sea otters resting together on the water is called what?

They float together in the same-sex groups, males with males and females with females, but each otter dives for its own food.

Sea otters are the heaviest members of the weasel family. Compared with other sea mammals they are…

A big male weighs about as much as a 12-year-old child, up to 45 kilograms.

Sea otters were once hunted for their fur until only 1,000 to 2,000 were left. When did the hunting stop?

There had been 150,000 to 300,000 of them across the North Pacific. They have been slowly recovering ever since.

A famous video of two sea otters holding paws was filmed in which city's aquarium?

It was YouTube's most popular animal video for a while and has been watched more than 22 million times.

Which ocean do sea otters live in?

They live along the coasts of North America and eastern Asia, mostly in sheltered spots with kelp forests.

How long can a sea otter hold its breath at most?

Most of its dives are only about a minute long. It hunts on the seabed for clams, crabs and urchins.

Sea otters are the only sea animal that can do what with rocks?

They flip rocks with their front paws to find crabs and other food hiding underneath.

Which kind of otter is the longest, growing up to 1.8 metres, about as long as a tall man?

It lives in South America's rivers and is the noisiest otter, with special calls for danger, anger and comfort. The sea otter is heavier but shorter.

Along which great river do most of these extra-long South American otters live?

In Spanish they are sometimes called 'river wolves', and in Brazil 'water jaguars'. Families of three to eight live together.

Which kind is the tiniest, weighing no more than a pet cat?

It weighs at most 3.5 kilograms and its paws are almost like little hands. It lives in pairs or family groups of up to 12.

North American river otters use their long whiskers for what?

They also have a see-through extra eyelid that works like swimming goggles.

What protects a river otter's eyes when it swims underwater?

It is called a nictitating membrane. Because their eyes are made for seeing underwater, otters are short-sighted on land.

Why do river otters often swim right up close to boats and people?

Their eyes are built for seeing underwater, so on the surface they cannot see very far and come closer for a look.

A river otter's den has lots of tunnels. Where does one of them usually lead?

Inside is a cosy nest chamber lined with leaves, grass, moss, bark and hair.

How long can a North American river otter live in a zoo or wildlife park?

In the wild it is usually 8 to 13 years. Life is harder with no keeper bringing fish.

Which country's word for otter is 'kawauso'?

Old Japanese and Chinese stories tell of otters that could turn themselves into beautiful women.

In one country, people have long trained otters to help them do what?

The tradition, passed from father to son, survives in the Narail district of Bangladesh, where the otters chase fish into the nets.

Eurasian otters leave droppings called 'spraints' on rocks. Why?

The smell tells other otters who lives there. Eurasian otters are now recovering across Europe after harmful pesticides were banned in 1979.

Tarka the Otter, the famous 1927 book, is set in the rivers of which English county?

The author Henry Williamson said the name Tarka means 'wandering as water'. The book has never been out of print.

Ring of Bright Water is about a man who kept wild otters at a remote house in which country?

Gavin Maxwell wrote much of it outdoors beside a waterfall. It sold over two million copies and became a film in 1969.

Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas is a 1977 TV special made by which famous puppeteer?

Kermit the Frog introduces the story of Emmet and his Ma, who both enter a talent contest to buy each other a present.

In which US state did scientists famously study how sea otters protect kelp forests?

Where the otters vanished, the seabed was grazed down to bare rock. Kelp forests are home to seals, sea lions, whales and lots of birds.

Sea otter babies are usually born where?

There is normally just one pup, born with its eyes open and ten teeth already showing.

Why do sea otters find walking on land so awkward?

The extra-long fifth toe on each hind foot is great for paddling on their backs but not for strolling on the beach.

How long does a mother otter carry her babies before they are born?

The whole family, including dad and older brothers and sisters, helps look after the new pup.

How old is an otter pup when it can first leave the den?

It stays with its family for about a year before going off on its own.

What do otters line their den with to make it cosy?

The den is often dug under tree roots or a pile of rocks, especially in Scotland.

How many hours a day do most otters spend hunting for food?

Mothers feeding pups may hunt for up to eight hours a day.

What do river otters do when they are not hunting or travelling, to keep their fur from getting soggy?

Sea otters are different and live in the ocean almost all their lives.

In which country have fishermen long trained otters to chase fish into their nets?

The skill is passed from father to son and is still used in the district of Narail.

In Norse myths, which dwarf liked to turn himself into an otter?

The story of 'Otter's Ransom' is the beginning of the Volsunga saga.

In a Korean legend, what happens to people who spot an otter?

Japanese folklore says otters can shape-shift to fool people, just like foxes and tanuki.

The word 'otter' grew from the same ancient root as which everyday English word?

Both words trace back thousands of years to a single word for water, which makes sense for an animal that lives in it.

How many different kinds of otter are alive in the world today?

They range from the tiny Asian small-clawed otter to the giant otter and sea otter, and live on every continent except Australia and Antarctica.

How fast can a sea otter swim underwater at top speed?

That is a gentle jogging pace. It powers along by moving its tail and back feet up and down, with its front paws tucked against its chest.

Which of these can a sea otter do that most other sea mammals cannot?

Its extra-large kidneys pull fresh water out of the salt water, although it gets most of what it needs from its food.

Which two body parts can a sea otter shut tight when it dives?

Its front claws can also pull back in like a cat's, and its palms have rough pads for gripping slippery prey.

Etika, the oldest sea otter ever recorded, reached what age at the Seattle Aquarium?

Wild sea otters rarely pass 23, partly because their teeth wear down from crunching shells all day.

In 1979 the Seattle Aquarium did what no one had ever done with sea otters?

The pup was named Tichuk, and three more followed in the early 1980s. Today sea otters live in more than 40 aquariums and zoos.

The biggest group of sea otters ever seen floating together held more than how many?

A normal group has 10 to 100 animals. Males and females float in separate groups, and each otter still dives for its own dinner.

How many times can a sea otter bash an abalone shell with a stone in just 15 seconds?

An abalone can cling to its rock with a force 4,000 times its own weight, so the otter often needs several dives to win.

Cartoons often show sea otters munching on it, but which food do they rarely eat?

They will eat more than 100 kinds of prey, from tiny limpets to giant octopuses, and any kelp they swallow passes straight through undigested.

In California, which animal is the sea otter's main predator?

The sharks seem to mistake otters for seals. They do not actually eat the otters after biting them, but the bite is usually fatal.

Why is spilled oil so deadly for a sea otter?

With no blubber, the otter depends entirely on its fur. The Exxon Valdez disaster of 1989 killed thousands of them in Prince William Sound.

Nyac, the lighter otter in the famous paw-holding video, had survived what as a youngster?

She was pulled from the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 and lived to the age of 20. Her darker friend in the video was called Milo.

Rosa the sea otter, who gets $1 million charity streams from DougDoug, lives where?

The charity streams have celebrated Rosa's birthday every year since 2019.

Long ago, sea otters were sometimes called by which other animal's name?

Its scientific name Enhydra simply means 'in the water' in ancient Greek.

Because they sold for so much in China, sea otter pelts earned which nickname?

By 1903 a single pelt could fetch $1,125 in London. Sadly, that is why so few otters were left when the hunting stopped.

Which famous British explorer bought sea otter furs in the Pacific Northwest in 1778?

When his ship later reached China, the furs sold for so much that traders from all over the world rushed to the Pacific Northwest.

In 1938 a couple testing a telescope found 50 hidden sea otters near which California spot?

Every one of California's roughly 3,000 sea otters today is descended from that little hidden group.

Sea Otter Awareness Week is held every year in which month?

Zoos and aquariums hold special events during the last full week of the month to teach people why sea otters matter.

Why do keepers at a California aquarium wear black gowns and masks around orphaned otters?

Each pup is then paired with a foster otter mum who teaches it to dive and find food before it is set free in Elkhorn Slough.

The sea otter is the only sea mammal that grabs its fishy dinner using what?

Seals, dolphins and whales all snap prey up with their mouths. The otter also digs deep into underwater mud for clams with those paws.

A sea otter is one of the main characters in which popular Japanese web manga?

Sea otters have become hugely popular in Japan. Another one stars in Mikio Igarashi's manga Bonobono.

How much of a North American river otter's total length is its tail?

The tail alone can be 30 to 50 centimetres long, and it tapers to a point like a thick rope.

In 2012 a river otter nicknamed Sutro Sam surprised everyone by moving into which US city?

He set up home around the ruins of the old Sutro Baths. No river otter had been seen in the city since the 1950s.

Where does a mother river otter usually find a den to have her babies?

River otters do not dig their own dens. Beavers often do the hard work for them.

The giant otter's genus name Pteronura describes its tail as being like a what?

The name comes from the Greek words for feather and tail. The flattened, muscular tail can add another 70 centimetres to its length.

What game do young river otters play most when romping together?

Chasing games come second. All that rough-and-tumble teaches them how to fight and hunt when they grow up.

The river otter's scientific name ends in 'canadensis'. What does that word mean?

River otters live in every Canadian province and territory, though they only recently returned to Prince Edward Island.

How can scientists tell one giant otter from another from the day it is born?

Every otter's pale throat patch is a different shape, like a fingerprint. The rest of its fur is chocolate brown.

Which fearsome fish is regularly on the giant otter's menu?

If fish run short, a family of giant otters will even tackle small caimans and anacondas together.

The longest a wild giant otter has been known to live is how many years?

In zoos they can reach 17. Life in the Amazon is tough, with caimans, anacondas and electric eels to avoid.

Clever small-clawed otters in zoos leave shellfish lying in the sun. Why?

It saves them the trouble of crushing the shells. Their paws are almost like little hands, and the claws barely poke past the pads.

In which city have wild otters learned to use staircases to climb out of concrete canals?

The smooth-coated otters there even squeeze under buildings to make dens. One family, the Bishan otters, became local celebrities.

When a smooth-coated otter family hunts together, what shape do they swim in?

The biggest otters take the middle. Panicking fish leap out of the water ahead of them and get snapped up.

Gavin Maxwell's famous pet otter Mijbil came from the marshes of which country?

London Zoo found Mij was a type of otter nobody had described before, so it was named Maxwell's otter after him.

In 2011, Eurasian otters were announced to be back in every county of which country?

They had almost vanished after harmful farm chemicals were used in rivers. Cleaner water brought them back.

In southern Spain, Eurasian otters have been found living in lakes on what kind of place?

Any clean water with enough fish will do. The Eurasian otter is the most widespread otter on Earth, from Ireland to Asia and North Africa.

Which animal is the biggest danger to the African clawless otter?

The snake lies in wait at the water's edge. If an otter spots danger it lets out a high scream to warn its neighbours.

The spotted-necked otter is common in which huge African body of water?

It hunts by sight in clear water with quick dives of under 20 seconds, and never goes into the sea.

In 2012 the Japanese river otter was officially declared what?

The last official sighting was in 1979. It is still the animal symbol of Ehime Prefecture, and it was known to snack on watermelons.

Which famous traveller saw Chinese fishermen using otters on the Yangtze in the 1200s?

The otter wore a leather harness on a chain and was sent into the net to chase out hiding fish.

Who narrated the 1979 film of Tarka the Otter?

The script was written by the animal-loving author Gerald Durrell. Attenborough had narrated the audiobook a year earlier.

What mark did one of Gavin Maxwell's otters leave on his handwritten Ring of Bright Water?

Maxwell wrote the whole book with a fountain pen, often sitting outdoors beside a waterfall.

In The Wind in the Willows, what is the name of Otter's young son?

When he goes missing, Rat and Mole search the river all night and find him asleep at the feet of the god Pan.

Otters belong to the weasel family. Which member of that family has been tamed as a pet?

The family has around 66 to 70 species, and the ferret is the only one people have truly domesticated.

On a hot day, how does a floating sea otter cool off?

On cold days it does the opposite, folding all four feet up onto its tummy to keep the heat in.

In the 1960s hundreds of sea otters were moved off Amchitka Island to escape what?

Around 700 otters were moved to new homes along the coast. Some of their descendants now live off Washington and British Columbia.

What colour is most sea otters' fur?

It is speckled with silver-grey, and older otters often get a pale, almost white head and chest.

Who gave the sea otter its first scientific name, Lutra marina, in 1758?

The name was changed many times before scientists settled on Enhydra lutris in 1922.

What do Russians call the sea otter?

Most of the Asian sea otters live off Russia's far eastern coast, around Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands.