Jin the otter is back

[vilakins]

They found Jin the lost otter! She escaped from Auckland Zoo almost a month ago, promptly swam the harbour, and was finally captured today on one of the Gulf islands where a yachtie spotted her. Judging from the places she was sighted, she's covered a huge area. I'm impressed.

According to one of Greg's colleagues whose wife works at the zoo, Jin's less than impressed about being caught; mind you, she was in the trap the zoo set for her all night. I'm glad she's safe and back with her fellow otters again though. It's been very cold and she'd only have been able to form a otterpile of one. :-P

[Edit] I just saw a news item about her, and her keepers said they were getting postcards from all over NZ and the world signed 'Jin'. Hee!

Text of article in case it disappears:

Missing otter found

Fugitive otter Jin has been captured on Motutapu Island in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf. A Department of Conservation spokesman said the short-clawed Asiatic otter, which escaped from Auckland Zoo on June 13, had been recovered safely in a trap. The otter had earlier been sighted at Devonport, and Rangitoto Island. The otter was being returned to the zoo today.

Zoo spokeswoman Jane Healy said the otter was spotted by a yachtie yesterday as he sailed past Rangitoto Island. Traps had already been laid in Islington Bay on Rangitoto and extra food was put out after the sighting yesterday, she said. Department of Conservation staff found the otter in one of the traps today. Ms Healy said the otter would have been in the trap overnight. She was being brought back to the zoo for a check by a veterinarian. "She is in pretty good shape. But obviously she will be a little worse for the wear for being out there but she is in pretty good shape."

Jin and two other otters escaped from a new compound in the middle of last month. The other otters were caught but Jin was believed to have swum down a creek and into Auckland's Waitemata Harbour. She crossed the harbour and made her way to Devonport, around North Head and up to Cheltenham Beach. She crossed the busy shipping channel to Rangitoto Island where she was spotted late last month but then swam back and was seen at Narrowneck on the Takapuna side of the gulf. She swam back to Rangitoto where traps had been laid before she was caught overnight.

Zoo staff were worried about her because she had been bred in captivity, and being out in the wild was a new experience. However, they said she seemed to be getting good food.

- HERALD STAFF, NZPA

Comments

[hafren.livejournal.com]

But mightn't she have been able to find free otters to make a pile with? Or are there none in those parts?

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Nope, just in captivity as far as I know. I didn't even know we had otters at the zoo till she escaped.

We had no mammals here till the British came.

[trixieleitz]

Psst! Except for the bats! and the marine mammals.

I was really pleased to hear that they'd found Jin - I dawdled on my way out the door this morning so that I could hear the whole story on Morning Report.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I didn't know till later; I was watching the World Cup. Greg e-mailed me. :-)

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

Oh, good news! It would be one thing for an otter to escape here, where it might find others, but there, Jin really wouldn't get much of a life.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I was worried about her, then when I hadn't heard for a while... :-( I was so delighted to hear they found her.

They showed her on the news, curled up in her bed looking rather like Tessa. They're keeping her in isolation for a few days to feed her up and make sure she hasn't got anything she might pass on the the others.

She was lucky she was overweight when she escaped because she's lost a bit. She did well in the sea too, swimming so far, esp considering she's a freshwater otter.

Hee: the otters are now very popular at the zoo. I can't understand how Greg and I missed them when we were there in February; Greg thinks they must be either very new or not viewable then. I want to see them, more red pandas, and have a cheetah encounter (http://www.aucklandzoo.co.nz/events/index.php?PHPSESSID=9e688feb83698e23c61acab01f1c3d37) (scroll down). :-)

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

The Cheetah Experience sounds amazing - I remember you saying that the zoo would be getting them. A friend was in Brisbane last week, and came back with photos of her 'hug a Koala' encounter. It was very sweet, but how much more fantastic would a cheetah be? I hope you get to meet them. White tiger cubs, cheetahs, whatever next? :-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

What next? Otters! :-D Just kidding, I don't think they have encounters, but the red pandas might and I adore them. I do want to see otters though, esp now I have a new camera. Since Jin disappeared, they've have been really popular. I never saw them at all when I was there last, in February, and we went all over the zoo, so they must be new.

I really should book for a cheetah encounter while those little guys are still quite young, though the weather's a bit crap.

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

Otters are really playful, but they have a nasty bite, apparently. Even the staff at the Otter Trust that I go to seem to be very careful. But do go to see them - the Asian otters like Jin are so, so sweet.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

They are! I fell in love with them from your photos. They have the cutest, expressive faces.

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Excellent news there.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It is! I saw her on the news, all curled up like my Tessa in her bed. Her keepers are so happy to have her back.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Oh that's lovely. She must have been lonely and probably cofused, poor thing.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I think so too. She lived quite well off fish but it's been so cold lately. The news made my day!