GIVSKUD ZOO – ZOOTOPIA Receives Fish from Gibotech

Gibotech feeds giant otters at GIVSKUD ZOO – ZOOTOPIA.

Like all other automation solutions developed by the Funen-based automation company Gibotech, a robotic system for the Norwegian fishing industry was first installed and tested in the company’s own facilities. And, as always, testing was naturally conducted using the actual items the system is designed to handle at the factory in Norway. That is why, over the summer, a refrigerated truck filled with sacks of frozen fish was parked in the parking lot on Datavej in southeastern Odense.

But what exactly do you do with a ton of frozen fish once you're done testing it and no longer need it?

- Once we were done testing the system, we were left with 1 ton of frozen fish that we couldn’t use for anything. On the other hand, we certainly didn’t want to throw away 40,000 kroner worth of fish. So we discussed back and forth what to do with it and agreed that it could surely be used for animal feed, says project manager Christian Dollerup.

The most obvious choice for a company in Odense would naturally be to contact Odense Zoo, but they couldn’t use the fish because they were too large for their fish-eating animals. Things were different at GIVSKUD ZOO – ZOOTOPIA in Jutland. Here, they have both spectacled bears and giant otters that eat fish in large quantities, so the 1,000 kg came in handy.

Donations to our zoo are always very welcome, so we were really grateful that Gibotech thought of us when they suddenly found themselves with a large surplus of fish.

Ditte-Mari Sandgreen, veterinarian at GIVSKUD ZOO – ZOOTOPIA

The giant otter is the world’s largest otter. It can grow to over two meters in length and weigh up to 40 kg. An adult giant otter eats about 4 kg of fish a day.