Andrew Wigdor

Knoxville

KINGSPORT, Tennessee – An otter named "Otto" has died after guests at a Tennessee park fed the animal food it could not tolerate.

Bays Mountain Park & Planetarium announced Thursday in a Facebook post that Otto was on his way to an animal hospital after park guests threw food into his enclosure. The post stated that Otto's body could not tolerate the food that was given to him. It was updated later to announce that Otto had died.

The post also reminds guests of the park to avoid this mistake in the future, stating, "Feeding the animals at Bays Mountain Park is strictly prohibited for exactly this reason. Human food is often intolerable and, in this case, even harmful to our animals."

In another post, the park said an autopsy will be performed on Otto to determine the exact cause of death.

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According to the post, Otto first came to the park in October 2017 as a 9-month-old after being housed at a rehabilitation facility in North Carolina. The facility looked after the otter and his sibling after their parents died in a flood.

"Otto was beloved by park staff and guests alike," the post reads. "A cheerful creature, he could often be found swimming or playing with toys in his pool, even when it was snowing outside."

Bays Mountain is a 3,550-acre nature park, which features cave systems and wildlife.

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