European Otter Basin, Zoo enclosure in Paris, France
The Bassin de Loutre d'Europe is an otter enclosure at the Zoo de Paris, located in the Bois de Vincennes. It features a pond with rocks, submerged logs, and plants along the edges, all arranged to resemble the natural habitat of European otters.
The Zoo de Paris opened in 1934 and is one of the oldest public zoos in France. The otter enclosure was added as part of a major renovation of the zoo that was completed in 2014, which also reorganized many of the animal habitats.
European otters are a protected species in France, where their numbers in the wild have dropped significantly over the past decades. Watching them at this exhibit gives visitors a direct sense of how these animals move, hunt, and rest near water.
The enclosure is inside the Zoo de Paris in the Bois de Vincennes and is well signposted within the park. The otters tend to be most active in the early morning or late afternoon, so those are good times to visit if you want to see them moving around.
European otters can hold their breath underwater for close to a minute, which means they sometimes seem to disappear beneath the surface for longer than visitors expect. Their fur is so water-repellent that their skin stays almost dry underneath, even after long swims.
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