The arrival of three Asian short-clawed otters at Banham Zoo is guaranteed to have visitors cooing as the baby cubs find their feet. Keepers were first alerted to the presence of the babies in December, but because of the secretive nature of the otters they were unable to confirm exactly how many cubs had been born. It was several weeks until all three young were seen together for the first time. "We're really pleased, it's the first time we've bred them at Banham, so we're very proud," said Mike Woolham, the zoo's animal manager. First steps The adult pair have been together at Banham for the last 12 months and have just started to bring the cubs from their holt [otter's den] into the outside enclosure. "The cubs are about seven inches, half-the-size of the adults, but with almost identical markings" said Mike Woolham. "The only thing you'd say is their heads are disproportionately big for their bodies, but that's true of most babies," he added. Otter species The Asian small-clawed otters are one of 13 species of otters in the carnivore family Mustelidae. Other members of this family include weasels, skunks, and ferrets. Asian small-clawed otters have slender, serpentine bodies with dense, luxurious fur and are usually found in southeast Asia from northern India to southeastern China, the Malay Peninsula and parts of Indonesia. The cubs at Banham will stay with the zoo for the best part of a year when they are then likely to leave Norfolk to join other animal collections elsewhere in Europe to set up new breeding pairs. There's more… The arrival of the otter cubs isn't the only good news at Banham. The zoo has also taken in a young female Bactrian camel, who goes by the name of Scrummy. The resident meerkats also have a litter of their own, with three newborns which Mike described as 'absolutely adorable'. | 
