Detroit Zoo welcomes 14-year-old southern sea otter named Kit

ROYAL OAK, Mich. – A 14-year-old southern sea otter named Kit now calls the Detroit Zoo home.

In January 2010, Kit was found stranded and alone in Morro Bay Harbor. She was only five weeks old and the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife deemed her unable to return to the wild.

Kit spent most of her life at California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium. At just 11 weeks old she became the youngest sea otter to be visible to the public in the aquarium’s history.

She participated in the aquarium’s surrogacy program which has non-releasable female sea otters act as “foster moms” to pups found stranded in the wild. The moms in the program teach the pups the skills they need so they might be able to be released back into the wild.

The program has helped rear more than 70 orphaned pups. Kit successfully reared 10 pups through the program.

Now, due to her age, she is moving to the Detroit Zoo to live out the rest of her life with a smaller raft of otters. The Detroit Zoo expects her to get along great with 4-year-old Monte and 2-year-old Finn.