Orphaned Otter Oscar Sucks His Paw While Dozing Off

This video, uploaded a year and a half ago, was submitted by Karen, who writes:

A short video of Oscar, an orphan river otter in the nursery at the Kentucky Wildlife Center. River otters are a true conservation success story in Kentucky. They were eradicated in the state in the early 1900s due to overharvesting (hunting and trapping), habitat destruction, and pollution. Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources released 350 wild caught adults back into the wild in the 1990s. Blessedly, they have been making a comeback. Oscar was found abandoned, cold, hungry and dehydrated on the bank of a lake in Western Kentucky. He is now a permanent resident education ambassador at the KWC and is the only river otter in captivity in the state of Kentucky. He has a habitat that rivals any zoo or aquarium in the world, is happy and educates thousands of people a year.

Otter Poses for a Portrait in a Tree

Otter Sucks His Tail Just Before Falling Asleep for a Nap