Dallas Zoo's New Otter Pup Beats the Odds

The Dallas Zoo announced Tuesday the successful birth of a new Asian small-clawed otter pup who beat the odds to survive the first few months of her life.

Tasanee, a single otter pup, was born Jan. 25 but needed help from zookeepers to survive being a lone pup, according to the zoo.

Tasanee is the first female single pup to survive longer than 30 days.

Otters typically give birth to three or four pups at a time, and according to the zoo, the survival rate for single otter pups is extremely poor, "possibly due to their mother's insufficient milk production and lack of stimulation from littermates."

With her birth, Tasanee's mother, Daphne, became the oldest female otter in the national Species Survival Plan's breeding population to give birth. Her dad, Jimmy, was born at the Dallas Zoo in 2006.

Tasanee weighed a little over 2 ounces at birth and was about the size of a C battery, according to the zoo. Now she's a healthy 2.3 pounds and was introduced to the otters' outdoor habitat last week.

Tasanee means "beautiful view" in Thai, and you can see her in the Betty Moroney Norsworthy Otter Outpost.

More: Dallas Zoo on Facebook: Otter Pup 'Tasanee' Beats the Odds

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