Lifespan
Up to 16 years under human care
The Sloth Bear exhibit in the East Lodge Trail will be closed from 23 Sep – 24 Oct 2024 for upgrading.
Sang Wira's exhibit on the tram route will be closed from 16 Sep 2024 to end-Jan 2025 for upgrading.
Travelling on the Mandai Khatib Shuttle will cost $2.50 each way from 1 Oct 2024.
Up to 16 years under human care
Crustaceans, mollusks, small fish, insects, rodents, reptiles & frogs
Freshwater wetlands & coastlines
From India through Southeast Asia to the Philippines, Taiwan & southern China
Our otters’ two-tiered exhibit is spread across an outdoor upper deck and an indoor viewing gallery. The terrain of the top tier is rocky — they build their dens and nest chambers beneath the boulders.
Here, you’ll see them doing their laps in the stream, engaged in a game of tag or playing ‘juggle-the-pebble’. To view their underwater acrobatics, follow the footpath to the lower exhibit. Zoom in on their tiny ears and nostrils — the otters can close them while they swim.
At the underwater viewing gallery, you’d probably get close enough to note the otters’ thick fur coat. What you see is their outer layer of long guard hairs, coated with oil to repel water. Only this layer gets wet when the otters take a dive. A layer of fine, tightly-packed underfur stays dry.
Air pockets within their coat keep the otters insulated while they swim. It’s important to regularly reintroduce air into their coats, which is why you’d often see them grooming themselves.
True to their name, these otters’ claws do not grow past their digital pads. They have partially webbed paws, which means they’re far more dexterous than otters with fully-webbed ones.
Using their forepaws rather than their mouth, they dig for shellfish like clams, mussels and their favourite crabs on the sandy shoreline. Their sharp teeth are well-adapted to the task of crushing shells. Alternatively, they bring catch like clams on land, leaving them to open in the sun.
With a vocabulary of 12 different calls, these otters can be a noisy bunch. The calls are used for contact, summons, greeting, threat and alarm. Scent markings are just as important for communication.
Otters emit a musky smell from paired scent glands at the base of the tail that helps mark their territory. The scent also gives chemical cues as to identity, sex and reproductive state. If you were wondering about the smell at the exhibit, this probably explains!
About 80% of carelessly-disposed land waste ends up in our waterways and become a threat to wildlife. In the “Free Aquarius” operation, MWR vets rescued a wild smooth-coated otter pup injured by an ‘O’ ring coiled around her body.
Let’s help the otters and other aquatic creatures by reducing waste generated from single-use plastics. Refill your bottle at water dispensers in our parks. Help spread the message to promote a litter-free environment.
Vulnerable
At high risk of extinction in the wild
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is widely recognized as the most comprehensive, objective global approach for evaluating the conservation status of plant and animal species.
Unknown risk of extinction
At relatively low risk of extinction
Likely to become vulnerable in the near future
At high risk of extinction in the wild
At very high risk of extinction in the wild
At extremely high risk of extinction in the wild
Survives only in captivity
No surviving individuals in the wild or in captivity