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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) The Oregon Zoo is mourning the death of Tilly, the river otter who started out as a rescued orphan pup and went on to become a mother herself and had brushes with fame along the way.
“This is a very sad time, especially for Tilly’s care staff,” said Jen Osburn Eliot with the Oregon Zoo, in a statement. “Some of our keepers were here the day she first arrived in 2009 as a tiny pup. She overcame adversity just to survive, and she helped other otters do the same.”
Tilly was found wounded by an animal attack and malnourished near Johnson Creek. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife facilitated her transfer to the Oregon Zoo, where she would later raise pups of her own and adopt other orphans.
One of Tilly’s earliest tastes of fame came in 2012 when her photo was used in an episode of 30 Rock. In the world of the NBC sitcom, the otter was famous for her resemblance to Tracy Morgan’s character, Tracy Jordan.
Tilly proved to be such an extraordinary mother that her parenting skills alone also commanded the world’s attention. Back in 2013, a video captured Tilly’s swimming lessons with her first pup, Molalla, or Mo for short. Mo’s rough-and-tumble antics gained over a million views on the zoo’s YouTube channel. That same year, the zoo gave Tilly the “Mom of the Year” award.
Tilly’s other pups included Ziggy, Tucker and Nellie. She was also an adoptive mom for other orphans, including Little Pudding, Flora and Hobson.
“Young river otters are extremely dependent on their mothers, and Tilly not only raised her own offspring but three other young pups who had lost their moms and needed a second chance,” Osburn Eliot said.
Tilly was “humanely euthanized” on Wednesday due to declining health and advanced age, the Oregon Zoo said. At 16, she was considered geriatric, with the average age for her species being 12.9 years for river otters that live in AZA-accredited zoos.
Despite once being threatened due to fur trapping, river otters can today be found abundantly in healthy river systems in the Pacific Northwest.
