Two new retirees settling in at Summerville sanctuary

  • Jake Blocker
  • Posted: Thursday, July 9, 2009 12:01 a.m.
    UPDATED: Thursday, March 22, 2012 7:37 p.m.
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Dua, an 8-year-old Asian short-clawed otter, walks out on a plank that's stretched across his swimming area at the International Primate Protection League headquarters in Summerville. Dua and another otter named Satu became new residents of the facility J
Bill Henley /The Post and CourierDua, an 8-year-old Asian short-clawed otter, walks out on a plank that's stretched across his swimming area at the International Primate Protection League headquarters in Summerville. Dua and another otter named Satu became new residents of the facility J

With the exception of the audience for his YouTube video, 8-year-old Dua has given up the entertainment business and is settling into retirement with a pool and plenty of toys — just what an otter needs.

The International Primate Protection League, on the outskirts of Summerville, has added Dua and Satu, a pair of Asian short-clawed otters, to its sanctuary. The otters arrived from the Monterey (Calif.) Bay Aquarium on June 23 and quickly have acclimated themselves to their Lowcountry surroundings and their neighbors: 32 gibbons and a 3-year-old female otter named Agape that are housed on the facility.

The pair kept IPPL Chairwoman Dr. Shirley McGreal and her staff busy in the first week. "They do a lot of heavy swimming at night and are quite the little escape artists," she said.

Satu, also 8, proved his elusiveness when he managed to escape his 90-by-100-foot pen. They found him attempting to get into Agape's pen, so they let him in, and the two have been inseparable ever since. McGreal said otters are monogamous and typically remain with their mate for life, which in captivity can last around 11 years. "She's been by herself, and she's really social, so I'm glad she has the opportunity to interact with other otters," said IPPL volunteer Laura Vees.

McGreal's organization has housed gibbons and otters for the past 30 years, and she said she was thrilled to have two new residents, especially to give some company to Agape, who has been the only otter for the past year. She hopes to find another female for the sociable Dua, who likes to reach through his fencing to touch the shoes of visitors. "Ten humans can't do for an otter what another otter can do," she said.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium had four male otters but discovered that was a bad grouping and fighting would occur. Only two of the otters could be shown to the public at one time.

In an effort to enrich Dua's stay, one of the aquarium employees taught him to bang out music on an electric keyboard while receiving treats. Video of him was shown on MSNBC's "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" and can be seen on YouTube.

Tending to the otters can be rather involved. "It's not really easy work," Donetta Pacitti said after scrubbing down Agape and Satu's swimming area. "We have some volunteers from the College of Charleston and ... we're just fixing up the ponds."

Dietary habits are a concern for the otters, but McGreal and her staff of volunteers have come up with a stellar menu for them.

"In the morning, we will scramble four eggs, mixed with fish-flavored cat food and put a dog vitamin in with their meal, and for lunch, we serve them chicken gizzards," Pacitti said.

They also get live minnows and fruits and vegetables, and Pacitti has developed a tasty dessert — or at least tasty by otter standards. "We boil two dozen eggs with two cans of cat food and four cups of bran. We bake it and it floats when we put it in their ponds," Pacitti said.