We cannot get enough of cute animals – think our new cat cafe, or the adorable baby aardvark born at Chester Zoo – and now, we’ve got more for you. In the best news we’ve heard in a while, three giant otter pups have started learning how to swim at Chester Zoo, and we can’t get enough.
Born to first-time parents Bonita and Manu, the adorable triplets have remained tucked away in their den for the first few weeks of life, having been born on 9 February 2026. Now, at 15 weeks old, the youngsters have had an unforgettable introduction to life in the water as they experience their very first swimming lessons.
Led by mum Bonita and dad Manu, the pups were picked up one by one by the scruff of their neck and popped straight into the deep end of the water, with the moment caught on camera.
Zookeepers have revealed the names of the rare triplets, made up of two boys and one girl. The two boys have been named Uca and Yali after a region of the Amazon rainforest and the second largest region in Peru, Ucayali. The female pup has been named Yara, which translates to “river spirit” in Brazilian folklore.
Frazer Walsh, a keeper on the zoo’s carnivore team, said Bonita and Manu’s three pups have been quietly tucked up in a cosy den since being born, but at 15 weeks old they have reached the age where they naturally start entering the water and learning to swim with gentle encouragement from their parents.
While giant otters look completely at home in the water, being born with webbed feet, a strong rudder-like tail and two layers of waterproof fur, they still have to learn the basics when they are young. Getting them into the water for the first time is a real family affair, and parents Manu and Bonita have taken a literal “thrown in at the deep end” approach, gently grabbing the pups by the scruff of the neck and placing them straight into the water. It may look dramatic, but it mirrors their behaviour in the wild and is working well, as the pups are already gaining the confidence to swim independently.
Giant otters are the world’s largest otter species. In the wild, where they are apex predators in the Amazon’s river systems, they face an uncertain future. Conservationists estimate that between 2,000 and 5,000 remain across South America, and the species has already disappeared from Uruguay.
Their decline is driven by deforestation, water pollution and illegal hunting. The species is listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction without urgent conservation action.
The giant otter pups were born as part of the international conservation breeding programme in European zoos that aims to safeguard the species from extinction.