Sanctuary´s Otter finds love while "Fishing for Love"
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Harris the otter has found love again after his animal care team set him up on "Fishing for Love" in the hope of finding him a new life partner.
Harris the Asian short clawed otter was paired up with Apricot, who sadly passed away after reaching an impressive 16 years of age, leaving Harris alone for the first time in four years.
Photo of Apricot and Harris in 2019
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Whilst he appeared to have resigned himself back to the bachelor lifestyle, there´s now no female telling him how to make his bed - what a mess!
Naturally otters live in pairs and he´s such a good partner that the team wanted him to be able to get a second chance of love. The search began to find Harris a new partner.
The Cornish Seal Sanctuary team created Harris a dating profile, highlighting all he has to offer, sending it out in the hope of finding his new perfect match.
The team were delighted to receive some photos back from an otter looking for love at Scarborough SEA LIFE who also recently lost her partner.
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Pumpkin, a female otter in Scarborough has very recently lost her elderly partner Eric, so the team thought they would be the perfect match.
The introduction of Asian short-clawed otters can be nerve racking and difficult to get right. To ensure the best chance of a new pairing getting off on the right foot, it´s best to introduce a new male into a female´s territory so that the male more easily submits to the female on first meeting.
Photo of Pumpkin and Eric in 2018
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For this reason Harris will be moving up to Pumpkin´s enclosure to ensure it goes as smoothly as possible.
Todd German, display curator at SEA LIFE Scarborough said "After having recently losing her best friend Eric, Pumpkin (photo left) has been extremely lonely so we are delighted that Harris will be coming to join her at SEA LIFE Scarborough and hope his arrival will provide Pumpkin with comfort and companionship."
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Tamara Cooper, curator at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary said "Harris came to us from the Welsh Mountain Zoo in 2016 after being rejected by his family.
There was certainly something about Harris that ticked all the boxes for our female otter Apricot, and after a few days of careful introductions they settled in beautifully together. He was a doting partner to Apricot, so when she passed away a few weeks back he was absolutely lost."
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"Sea Life Scarborough are real otter experts and the team at the Sanctuary couldn´t be happier that Harris will be cared for by their animal care experts.
We will be very sad to see Harris go as he is such a character but we will be keeping in touch regularly to see how him and Pumpkin get on."
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Press Release issued by the Cornish Seal Sanctuary
For more details, please contact Georgina Shannon on 07791 004534
Issue Date: 28th September 2020
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