Otters thrill visitors to the Lake District

Those with a keen interest in animals should head to Lakes Aquarium, at Newby Bridge, in the English Lake District, where activities surrounding a new otter enrichment programme are thrilling visitors.

Absorbing interaction with the Asian Short-Clawed otters, Mia and Smudge, by 24-year-old Gareth Da’Bell from Ulverston, and other handlers, has become the focus of three daily talks, at 10.30 am, noon and 3pm, the first and last of which also include feeding.

The programme, introduced to help facilitate any future administering of veterinary injections or treatment and simultaneously provide more stimulation for the otters, has become one of the highlights of a visit to the globally themed attraction.

Gareth has learnt and continues to learn a huge amount about this sphere of animal behaviour and management. Having left school aged 12, to train horses, he is now making his equestrian skills transferable and using them in the otter programme.

The top-to-floor glassed enclosure provides excellent viewing opportunities for visitors of all heights and a chance for children to come up close to the adorable and playful otters and watch their interaction.

The use of toys has been incorporated into Mia and Smudge’s daily routine, to provide stimulation and make it more challenging for the otters to find food around their enclosure.

Toys now form a crucial role within ‘scatter feeding’, leading the otters to forage in their water pool, or investigate where food might lurk within other features and plants introduced to help replicate life in the wild.

Some toys are simply introduced to provide interest. These range from a football, to a set of keys – the latter having been introduced by accident when they started to play with a set that had been dropped by their feeder!

The Lakes Aquarium employee delivering the talk and feed experience explains how the otter enrichment programme has helped curtail the biting behaviour the otters previously adopted to get food on demand. Holes in the thick rubber wellies are testimony to the bad old days!

The animals are both point fed and scatter fed, to bring an element of control into the relationship and allow the otters to dive into their water pool to forage for food, or use their dexterous paws to dig for their treats.

Visitors also have the opportunity to ask the handler questions about the programme, to get even more insights into this innovative and far-sighted initiative.

Visitors who can tear themselves away have lots more to explore at Lakes Aquarium. With zones featuring creatures living in and around the freshwater lakes of the world, including Windermere, there is the chance to learn about and see fish as awesome as red-bellied piranha and as uncommon as Arctic Char.

There are also animals ranging from cute marmosets and a fierce-looking caiman, to tiny dormice and amazing diving ducks.

With a centrepiece of an impressive underwater tunnel, in which some huge fish swim overhead, and a hi-tech Virtual Dive Bell that brings some frightening predators into the spotlight, a visit is a huge talking point.

Admission costs £8.75 for an adult, £5.75 for children aged over three and £24.95 for a family of two adults and two children. Other family group prices are available and up to 25 per cent on admission can be saved by buying tickets online at lakesaquarium.co.uk.