Due to being blind, Buddy required special attention; he would not have survived very long in the wild in Guyana. Jacksonville Zoo, in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.A., was looking for a giant river otter to add to the gene pool, and so the decision was made to send Buddy to that zoo.
Recently, a photo of Buddy was featured on the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens Facebook page, which attracted several comments by visitors who spoke lovingly of the otter, prompting us to retell his story.
Buddy’s Story
In 2013, Sunday Times Magazine had interviewed
Salvador de Caires who related his unforgettable experience with the loving otter. Salvador first met Buddy on the Rupununi River sandbank at Karanambu.
Salvador, who was born and raised in Georgetown, knew the late founder of Karanambu Ranch and conservationist, Diane McTurk. They met through a mutual friend, Duane de Freitas, the manager of Dadanawa Ranch.
Diane had, for years, been the executive director of the lodge which won the Caribbean Excellence in Sustainable Tourism Award in 2013. Over two decades, Diane cared for more than 50 orphaned giant river otters at Karanambu – the majority of which have successfully been returned to the wild.
“My wife and I came to Guyana, after living overseas for a number of years, in January of 2010 with the intention of investigating the possibility of moving home to Guyana. We went to Karanambu to visit Diane for 10 days and ended up staying for three months. When we finally returned to the US, it was only two weeks before Diane called us on Skype and asked us to make her home our home. It took us five minutes to agree. We returned to Karanambu as the managers of Karanambu Lodge Inc.,” Salvador recalled.
When Salvador and his wife arrived at Karanambu, they saw Buddy who was just a teenager. Salvador recollected Diane having two baby otters at that time: Philip and Belle. Salvador described Buddy as “very inquisitive and friendly”.
“Having a large animal, (about six feet from tip of tail to tip of nose) checking you out is a little nerve-racking. But I soon realised I had nothing to fear from Buddy. Diane called out, ‘My beloved beast!’ and Buddy came bounding over and almost knocked her over. Buddy and I became very close friends. I took over his care allowing Diane to spend more time with the two baby orphan otters,” Salvador reminisced.
He noted that Buddy’s temperament was what stood out about him. He trusted Buddy completely. The loving otter was never aggressive, unlike many others raised by Diane. Salvador mentioned that he could lock his fingers behind Buddy’s canine teeth and pull him through the water and not get bitten – a game they played.
Buddy had lost his sight in an accident when he was much younger. A small boy, Salvador recounted, was playing with Buddy and stepped on a board which flipped and hit Buddy across the eyes, blinding him instantly.
Taking Buddy to the sandbank twice a day for at least two hours each time, Salvador got to see what he could do, and was amazed. Not having sight in the murky river waters was not an obstacle to catching fish. Buddy surprised everyone when he caught an 86lb arapaima and dragged it up out of the river onto the sandbank. Another time he caught a huge stingray and ate most of it.
“But Buddy was getting big. Twice he followed a wild otter down the river and we had to go behind him in the boat to bring him back. He also had several close encounters with black caiman, who were thankfully not bigger than he was,” Salvador remembered.
This was when the decision was made to take Buddy to Jacksonville Zoo, where he would get the attention he requires. (Jacksonville Zoo collaborates closely with the Government of Guyana. Two jaguars from Guyana are already there.)
Diane’s intention, according to Salvador, had always been, with each otter she has raised, to return them to the wild, not to keep them as pets.
“Buddy was unable to live on his own because he was blind. It would have been just a matter of time before a caiman got him. It was a question of quality of life over safety. But Diane still would not agree to send Buddy to a zoo. I tried to tell her that this would be his only chance to mate. She wavered, and then the wet season came and the river came up about twenty feet. Buddy became disoriented because the sandbank was gone and the steps that he was accustomed to going up and down at a great speed to the sandbank disappeared under water. Diane relented,” Salvador reminisced.
A few weeks later, a charter flight landed at Karanambu and a crate was loaded with Buddy and Talia – a volunteer who had become very close to all of the otters. After 48 hours of travelling, Buddy finally arrived in Jacksonville. Salvador said the experts checked his eyes, but unfortunately nothing could be done. He had a few parasites and was kept in quarantine until he had adjusted.
At Jacksonville Zoo, a complete habitat based on Karanambu was designed. Underwater channels, a waterfall and even a sandbank were designed just for Buddy.
Salvador related that Buddy was accustomed to catching fresh piranha and eating them headfirst, so when Jacksonville served him his first frozen fish Popsicle, he swallowed it too quickly and got “brain freeze”; shaking his head madly.
At the Zoo
In July 2017, Jacksonville Zoo posted a photo of Buddy on Facebook with the caption: “Our giant river otters are a JZG [Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens] visitor favorite, so be sure to wish Buddy a Happy Zooniversary if you see him today! Buddy came to us from the wilds of Guyana 7 years ago today for special care after he was found injured and blind.”
One visitor commented on Buddy’s photo: “He is so adorable, always one of our favorites to see when we visit Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens!”
To learn more about Buddy, visit www.jacksonvillezoo.org.
