Otters get ready for a an Easter egg hunt

Keepers at the attraction are hiding a number of coloured ‘Easter Eggs’ which the otters will have to retrieve during lunchtime feeds throughout the weekend.

The eggs – which have been coloured using food dye – will provide the aquatic mammals with a chance to demonstrate their foraging skills.

Blue Reef’s Hannah Butt said: ‘Asian short claw otters love eggs and will often supplement their diet in the wild by raiding the nests of birds so we didn’t think our Easter egg hunt would prove too challenging when we tried it out this week.

‘However we did ask the keepers to hide the eggs as well as they possibly could and I believe our female otter Selma was by far the best at tracking them down – in the end she found five out of the six eggs.’

In addition to being a tasty and nutritious meal the eggs will also provide environmental enrichment for the aquatic mammals as they play, juggle and even swim with them.

Asian short claw otters are found throughout southern Asia including India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.