{"id":594141,"date":"2025-11-26T03:12:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T03:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/594141\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T03:12:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T03:12:17","slug":"beloved-asian-otter-dies-at-gloucestershire-wildlife-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/594141\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Beloved’ Asian otter dies at Gloucestershire Wildlife centre"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘We’re grateful that he was not suffering for long and is now resting peacefully’<\/p>\n

15:59, 25 Nov 2025Updated 16:00, 25 Nov 2025<\/p>\n

Sam died at the WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre on Sunday(Image: WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre)<\/p>\n

A “beloved” Asian small-clawed otter has passed away at a Gloucestershire wildlife sanctuary.<\/p>\n

Sam, an Asian small-clawed otter, who arrived at WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre in 2023 with his companion Tilly, died after spending two years at the attraction in the Gloucestershire village.<\/p>\n

Sam was born at WWT Washington in 2016 and has also spent time in WWT London, before being paired with Tilly with whom he had two small litters. They were a bonded pair for seven years.<\/p>\n

The nine-year-old otter is described by the sanctuary as having a “lovely temperament”, and being “observant” and “clever”.<\/p>\n

But sadly, he had a history of kidney issues, and his condition deteriorated over 24 hours before he picked up a secondary infection.<\/p>\n

WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre announced the passing on Facebook and said: “We\u2019re deeply saddened to share that our beloved Asian small-clawed otter, Sam, passed away yesterday (Sunday, November 23).”<\/p>\n

“Sam was born at WWT Washington in 2016. Growing up, he spent time at some of our other sites, including WWT London, before being paired with Tilly. In their time together, they had two small litters and were a bonded pair for seven years.<\/p>\n

“Sam and Tilly arrived at WWT Slimbridge in summer 2023. They joined us from New Forest Wildlife Park on Thursday, July 27, and were first released into their new enclosure on Saturday, July 29.<\/p>\n

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“It was here that he found his feet with us, and with Tilly. Bigger, bolder and more confident, Tilly was definitely the leader of the pair, with Sam following her for support and guidance.<\/p>\n

“Sam had a lovely temperament; he was quieter and more shy than Tilly, but he was observant and clever, and loved exploring his surroundings, diving for food and saying hello to visitors.<\/p>\n

“At the time of his passing, Sam was nine years old. Unfortunately, Sam had a known history of kidney issues, and over the last 24 hours, we saw Sam\u2019s condition deteriorate. After being checked over by our brilliant in-house veterinary team, we sought a second opinion externally at Vale Vets in Dursley.<\/p>\n

“There, tests showed that Sam\u2019s kidneys had deteriorated, which is a common ailment for Asian small-clawed otters. He had also picked up a secondary infection.<\/p>\n

“He was in a lot of pain and not showing any signs of improvement, so we made the decision to put him to sleep. We\u2019re grateful that he was not suffering for long and is now resting peacefully.<\/p>\n

“Thank you to our in-house vet team, as well as Vale Vets, who were incredibly accommodating and supportive during this difficult time. Sam was well cared for by our Living Collections team, who work hard to maintain a high level of welfare for all our animals. He was also well-loved by everyone who visited him. We know he will leave a lasting impression on us all.<\/p>\n

“Tilly is a confident and strong character, and in the short term, we don\u2019t have concerns about her living alone. Otters are social animals though, so in the longer term, we\u2019ll assess our options and make a plan with Tilly\u2019s best interests at heart.”<\/p>\n

You can read more on the WWT Slimbridge page in their tribute here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘We’re grateful that he was not suffering for long and is now resting peacefully’ 15:59, 25 Nov 2025Updated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":594142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3847],"tags":[600,12028,70,16,15,1717],"class_list":{"0":"post-594141","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-facebook","9":"tag-gloucestershire","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115613817955202240","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/594142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}