She delighted more than 17 million people and was an “ambassador for her species”, but Amália, who lived at Lisbon Oceanarium for the last 16 years, has finally gone to that great otter-pond in the sky.
Público newspaper reports that her passing on December 12, poignant though it was, was only to be expected. Keepers had noticed the signs of ageing, and none of them could be sure of Amália’s exact chronology as she arrived at the Oceanarium already fully grown. Sea-otters can live around 20 years.
Named after the country’s much loved Fado singer, Amália Rodrigues, the web-footed mother-of-many came to Portugal with her mate, Eusébio, from Alaska. The pair were presented at Expo’98 and were involved in many educational programmes and documentaries.
Eusébio popped his otter-clogs three years ago but two of his and Amália’s young – Maré, 15 and Micas, 12 – remain to take on the parental mantel and continue to welcome visitors to the Oceanarium, the only one in Europe to feature sea-otters.
