On January 24, 1997, the pair of European otters at the Zoo surprised the keepers with a New Year's present: the Zoo's first pup of this species! He was also the first of his kind born in the United States, since the Zoo had the only breeding pair of European otters at the time. It was a bit of a surprise because the mother otter had been spending lots of time in the den, so the keepers hadn't had a good look at her in a while—plus, otters have the ability to delay gestation, making it hard to pinpoint if or when a birth might take place. Everyone was very happy to discover the little fellow, though, and pleased to see that both mom and dad were taking excellent care of him.