Beardsley Zoo Announces Unexpected Death of River Otter

One of two river otters at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo has died unexpectedly.

Sedge, a male North American river otter, was four years old and had lived at Beardsley Zoo since 2021 before his passing.

Zoo officials say the otter was recently treated for an infection, though the cause of death has not been determined. The necropsy will be performed by the Pathology Lab at the University of Connecticut, which the zoo says can take days, or even weeks, to complete.

The otter came to Bridgeport from Alexandria Zoological Gardens in Louisiana. The zoo says he was brought in to be companion to the zoo's other river otter, named Tahu. The zoo says that otter, also four years old, is in good health.