Lonely Otter Finds Love

A seal sanctuary in England made a dating profile online for an otter who lost his mate. And it worked! Harris the otter has found love again and that is a whale – or otter – of a tale.

When Harris’s mate Apricot passed away, the team at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary decided to spring into action and find him a new partner. That’s why, according to a press release from the sanctuary, his animal care team set him up on “Fishing For Love,” an online dating site they created to help them search for a new mate.

Harris, a ten-year-old Asian short-clawed otter (one of the smallest species of otters) lived with Apricot for four years. He came to the sanctuary in 2016 after being rejected by his family. Since Otters live in pairs, the team wanted to give him a second chance at love.

“I am very attentive, I love a cuddle, and I am a very good listener," the profile said. "I will love you like no otter.”

The team was thrilled to receive some photos of a female otter who was also looking for love after she recently lost her partner. Her name, according to the press release, is Pumpkin, and she lives at Sea Life Scarborough. They hope she would be a perfect match.

But, it’s not that easy to introduce Asian short-clawed otters. To make sure it works, the sanctuary said that it is best to introduce a male into the female’s territory so that he submits to the female on the first meeting. That is why Harris will be moved to Pumpkin’s enclosure

Tom German, the display curator at Sea LifeScarborough said in the press release, “After recently losing her best friend Eric, Pumpkin has been extremely lonely so we are delighted that Harris will join her at Sea Life Scarborough and hope his arrival will provide Pumpkin with comfort and companionship.”

Of course Harris’s care team will miss him when he goes, Tamara Cooper, the curator of Cornish Seal Sanctuary told CNN. “We will be very sad to see Harris go as he is such a character," Cooper said. "But we will be keeping in touch regularly to see how him and Pumpkin get on.”

This is not the first on-line dating profile that has been used to find mates in the animal kingdom. In 2019, a lonely Sehuencas water frog found his mate on match.com. Romeo was thought to be the last of his species. The dating profile was part of a fundraising campaign to fund an expedition to find more Sehuenas frogs and a Juliet for Romeo. It was successful.

Let’s hope that this whale of an otter tale has a happy true love ending for Harris and Pumpkin.

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