Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

VIDEO: Orphaned otters Dee and Don growing stronger

Two orphaned otters named Dee and Don by rescuers are getting closer to a return into the wild.

The pair of pups were taken in by the New Arc Sanctuary, near Ellon, last year after their parents and sibling were found dead near an old sawmill in Alford.

The brother and sister, then believed to be around nine weeks old, were wandering about by themselves.

Since then, the pair have been growing stronger and are ready to go into their new pen – which will help prepare them for release.

New Arc owners, Keith and Pauline Marley have been caring for the hungry duo.

Mr Marley said: “They are eating about 4kg of fish every day at the moment. I’m hoping to get them into their next pen soon which will prepare them for the wild – we will be very much ‘hands off’ then.

“Dee and Don are in no way tame, but do get very excited if they know food is coming.”

The Marleys started the sanctuary by “accident” after hearing a vet talking about putting down a sick animal.

The couple’s 10-acre site outside Ellon now houses an average 350 creatures at any one time. But due to the nature of wild animals, they need separate pens to help facilitate their release back into the wild.

They are currently drawing up plans for a specialised wildlife hospital and are nearing their fundraising target of £30,000.

Mr Marley explained: “There isn’t really anywhere like that at the moment in Scotland, with on-site veterinary treatment.

“We rely heavily on vet visits just now, but it’s not ideal sitting in a waiting room next to cats and dogs with a baby deer in your arms.

“We are just at the start of our busy time of the year – it can be quite frantic. We are as quiet as it gets just now with around 250 animals, but that could double really quickly.”

Other notable residents include Gary the red squirrel who is being released soon after spending six months being reared to full strength and Scooter the roe deer who is also preparing for release.

If you would like to donate please visit:

https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/newarc/animal-hospital