MURRELLS INLET, SC (WBTW) – Zookeepers at the Lowcountry Zoo at Brookgreen Gardens are excited to announce the birth of their first otter litter in nearly a decade.

The pups were born January 27 and a birth announcement was made on Monday.

The litter includes three boys and one girl, mothered by John (named after the St. John’s River where she was found) and fathered by Elliott.

The zoo says both John and Elliott are first time parents and have adjusted well.

“She has been an excellent mom so far and we are closely monitoring the litter of pups with a camera running 24 hours a day. They’re growing by leaps and bounds right now, which is really good,” said Andrea DeMuth, vice president and curator of the zoological collection at Brookgreen Gardens.

DeMuth says John and Elliott were genetically matched for breeding by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) to avoid blending too much of the same DNA.

“Because they are both wild caught animals, they’re valuable to the collection of animals in the US, because they are both bringing in wild genetics into the population,” said DeMuth.

DeMuth says otters bred at the zoo are not released back into the wild, but help populate other zoos with healthy otters across the country.

The AZA notified the zoo in the winter that John’s hormones had spiked, meaning she was either already pregnant or was ready to mate.

DeMuth says pups are often born between February and March, so the litter came as a surprise to staff.

“We looked at her [last] Friday and thought she looked a little pot bellied. That there may be babies in there, but then Monday. And there they were,” said DeMuth.

Zookeepers say the pups will stay with their mom until they are confident swimmers.

“We won’t have them on public exhibit until they are proficient at swimming, because we need to make sure that they can hold their breath, that they can swim deep and that they’ll come when we call them too to come back in,” said DeMuth.

DeMuth says zoo staff plans on naming the pups after characters from the Super Mario video game series: Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Peach.

The last time otter pups were born at Lowcountry Zoo was in 2011.