Preview of zoo's new river otter exhibit scheduled for July 9

The new river otter exhibit at the New York State Zoo at Thompson Park is nearing completion, and a preview event to thank donors has been planned.

The July 9 behind-the-scenes tour of "Otter Creek" will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the zoo entrance for members of the Otter 400 Club and corporate contributors of funds and materials to the $400,000 exhibit, zoo Director John Scott Foster said.

The major benefactor of the exhibit is Carthage Savings & Loan.

At least two of the four otters will be in the exhibit for the preview event; two others will be here soon, including Louie, who has been on loan to The Wild Center at Tupper Lake, Mr. Foster said.

The goal is to open the exhibit to the public the weekend following the preview event.

"We thank the hundreds of people who have made this possible," Mr. Foster said. "It's the first new construction at the zoo in nine years."

The Otter 400 Club, which was sponsored by the Watertown Daily Times, raised more than $20,000 in five months for the care and upkeep of otters in their new space.

"We really appreciate the hundreds of families who each sent in $50 to help us make our goal," said Robert D. Gorman, managing editor of the Times. "We got a big boost this month from students at Watertown High School, who were led by Chelsea Taddonio. Students from the journalism and outdoor clubs raised more than $750. We also sold a lot of our 'Meet The Otters' T-shirts to raise money."

Mr. Gorman said he is looking forward to having 400 Club members see how the exhibit was put together.

"Everyone who donated money to the exhibit is invited," Mr. Gorman said. "They are going to know the exhibit inside out. Anybody who has had the pleasure of listening to John talk about animals knows this is going be an interesting program."

For now, a young female otter and an adult male who recently arrived are being held in quarantine as the finishing touches are put on the exhibit space. Basic landscaping and fencing are in place, the pools and waterfalls where the animals will swim are largely complete and the infrastructure of the walkways and gardens for visitors is taking shape.

The main tasks remaining, aside from planting, include installing pavement, the water filtration system and "hot wire" inside the exhibit around the top of the fencing, zoo General Curator Susan M. Sabik said.

Some of the hot wire will be disguised as grass and vines; it will work much like electric fencing for dogs, giving the animals a little shock to let them know where the boundaries are.

The little escape artists who will inhabit the space also require custom-made "squeeze boxes" that keepers can train them to enter with treats. The sides of the boxes can be moved inward using cranks, holding the animals still so the keepers can easily give injections or check for injuries.

That's a much easier procedure for zoo staff and the otters than sending a keeper into a holding pen with a net, since the creatures handle much like "a 60-pound Slinky with teeth," Ms. Sabik said. "They're built to maneuver quickly in the water to catch fish, so they're very muscular."

Otters can burrow as well as climb, so fencing in the land portion of the otters' exhibit goes about 4 feet below the surface, where it's attached to the bedrock, Ms. Sabik said.

The same qualities that can make river otters challenging for zoo staff to work with make them exciting for visitors to see. Their charisma and playfulness as they hunt in the water and explore their environment can help motivate viewers to take an interest in preserving water quality, as the presence of the animals in the wild "can be used as a little barometer for how well we're taking care of our water supply," Ms. Sabik said.