23-Year-Old Otter Dies at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium

Sea otter was considered the oldest living in any North American zoo or aquarium

The Shedd Aquarium has euthanized a sea otter considered the oldest sea otter living in any North American zoo or aquarium.

The aquarium told The Associated Press on Monday that it euthanized Kachemak on Saturday.

Kachemak was 23 years and 6 months old. Scientists say she exceeded her life expectancy by several years. She was the first sea otter that the Shedd Aquarium raised from infancy.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found Kachemak stranded and orphaned on a beach in Alaska in 1990. She was just 6-weeks-old when she came to Chicago. The aquarium built a special nursery for her before she moved in with the older otters. She later lived in the aquarium's Oceanarium.

The Shedd Aquarium now has four sea otters.
 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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