Digestible Energy Intake and Digestive Efficiency of Human-Managed North American River Otters (Lontra canadensis)

Table 2

Percent distribution of food items in the diets of the captive North American river otters (Lontra canadensis) held at three North Carolina institutions (weight as fed).

% Institution A^a		% Institution B^a		% Institution C^a
Mackerel (whole)	47.2	Smelt (whole)	18.7	Catfish (whole)	37.6
Smelt (whole)	28.3	Trout (whole)	15.4	Capelin (whole)	36.5
Capelin (whole)	24.5	Perch (fillet)	8.5	Enrichment items^c	25.9
		Tilapia (fillet)	6.8
		Mullet (whole)	5.6
		Salmon (fillet)	3.5
		Enrichment items^b	41.5

^aEach diet was supplemented with thiamine and vitamin E. ^bCantaloupe, carrot, cauliflower, celery, green pepper, mango, mushroom, papaya, sugar pea, sweet potato, tomato, and whole peanuts. ^cBanana, blackberry, blueberry, broccoli, carrot, crayfish claw, hardboiled egg, krill, mushroom, nectarine, peanut butter, pear, sweet potato, whole clam, and whole shrimp with shell.