The Cute but Fierce Giant Otter: Bolivia for Kids

by Kricket
(BoliviaBella.com)


Today I bring you another "episode" of Bolivia's Wacky Wildlife. This Bolivian creature is the largest of its kind in the entire world. Drum roll please for the...


Giant Otter

If you've read the name, then you probably already figured out that this is a very big otter, the biggest of its kind in the world, in fact. Its tail alone can grow up to 30cm (about 12 inches). These massive guys eat cat fish and perch but if they really need to they will eat caiman, crustaceans like crabs, and other such food, and if they are really desperate, they will even eat snakes.

Giant otters like to make their homes near the banks (banks as in near the river not where you deposit money... as cool as it would be, animals unfortunately don't have any secret banks) where there are lots of plants.

These guys are so big that only the big predators like pumas and jaguars can eat them.



The giant otter can eat 6 to 9 pounds of food every day. That's a lot! The Giant Otter lives mostly in the water where it eats its 6 to 9 pounds of food every day. Unlike us, they don't get all wrinkly from being in the water so much because they have a shiny, built-in, waterproof vest.

When they're not in the water you can see the little, or.. sorry BIG creatures hanging out with their families of 10 to 12 members. In other countries they have other names like the Brazilian Otter and the flat-tailed otter. So if you thought otters were cute, how about cute AND massive, like when you buy a massive teddy bear.

Hope you enjoyed learning about *yet another* one of the world biggest things that live in Bolivia. We have the worlds biggest ALL KINDS OF THINGS, don't we.


Video source: https://youtu.be/Yc-13P6Yb_o

Submitted 2015-05-19

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