HUNT FOR KITCHI: Zoo's otter still on the lam

In the river otter enclosure at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, feeding time is show time.
Kuuyi and Pahapi leap from rocks to trees with reckless abandon and playfully dive into the water to display the fish-catching ability that make them among nature’s greatest — not to mention most adorable —...

2 photos
+ captionIt's been six months since Kitchi, a river otter, disappeared from the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. One of his fellow river otters darts through the water in the exhibit Sept. 15. Three otters were recaptured after all four escaped. Kitchie is still at large. Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette

Kuuyi and Pahapi leap from rocks to trees with reckless abandon and playfully dive into the water to display the fish-catching ability thatDivision of Wildlife.

Semi-aquatic river otters, the largest of the weasel family in Colorado at 4 feet long, once occupied every major river basin in Colorado. Unregulated trapping, pollution and habitat loss wiped them out, until reintroductions by the DOW began in 1976.

Otter populations have taken hold in the Gunnison, Piedra, Dolores and the upper Colorado rivers, as well as many tributaries. The closest reintroduction to Colorado Springs was in Cheesman Reservoir on the South Platte River, which did not take hold, though otters have been spotted in the Platte farther downriver.

The DOW encourages the public to report otter sightings, and the agency occasionally gets reports from the Arkansas Basin, but never what it considers an “A” sighting, meaning one confirmed with photos, video or tracks. Mink, beavers and