Adorable video shows mama otter teaching baby otter how to swim

Adorable videos show a baby otter getting swimming lessons from his river otter mum.

Staff at the Oregon Zoo captured videos of 13-year-old rescued North American river otter Tilly teaching her 4-month-old pup Mo to swim.

Mo was born in late January and only took his first dip in April, with a lot of help from his mum.

Zookeeper Becca Van Beek stated that as swimming doesn’t come naturally to river otter pups, they have to be taught by their mothers.

She said: “So far Tilly's been an amazing teacher.

"It might look kind of scary to a casual observer but it's a very natural behaviour.

"Baby otters are extremely buoyant, so Mo has built-in water wings for his swim lessons.

“This is how baby otters learn to swim in the wild and it's exactly what we've been hoping to see."

Becca described that river otters are very dependent on their mothers when they're born - it can take up to five weeks for them to walk or even open their eyes.

Mo, named after the Molalla River in Clackamas county, northwest Oregon, is the first river otter to be born at the Oregon Zoo.

Both Tilly and the pup's father, B.C., are rescue animals who had a rough start to life.

Tilly was found wounded, malnourished and orphaned near Johnson Creek, Oregon in mid-2009.

B.C., was found orphaned near Star City, Arkansas, in lat 2009 and brought to Oregon Zoo as a companion for Tilly.

Due to extreme habitat destruction and water pollution, river otters are considered rare outside the Pacific Northwest so Mo’s birth was especially important.

Becca emphasised that everyone at Oregon Zoo is ‘thrilled to have Mo’ and very excited to see him develop and progress.