The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s runaway otter Kitchi was spotted on the Broadmoor Hotel’s golf course Thursday, but, despite a heavy rescue attempt by multiple agencies, the otter remains at large.

After failed attempts to coax the North American river otter out of a culvert on the golf course by Broadmoor staff, Broadmoor Fire and Rescue and the Colorado Springs Fire Department, Colorado Springs Utilities was called to search the culvert with a robotic closed circuit camera system. The otter was not located.

Zoo staff discovered Thursday morning that a failed crimp in the otter exhibit’s mesh covering gave all four of the zoo’s otters the opportunity to flee. Two were discovered within minutes at the grizzly pool, directly above the otters’ exhibit in the Rocky Mountain Wild complex. A third was recovered within the zoo’s secondary containment fence about an hour later. But Kitchi breached the fence and has been missing since.

Crews searched the golf course through Saturday before determining the animal had moved on, said Sean Anglum, zoo spokesman.

There have been several reported Kitchi sightings since, Anglum said, but zoo crews determined those animals to be muskrats. Otter tracks have also been spotted in the Broadmoor area.

The otter is nearly 4 feet long from nose to tip of tail, and dark brown in color with a nearly white muzzle. The 25-pound otter is not regarded as a threat to people unless provoked, but could pose a danger to residents’ koi and other fish in decorative ponds.

People who spot the otter or evidence of the animal, such as fish remains or otter tracks, are asked not to approach it, but instead call the zoo’s otter hotline, 648-7348.

Aaron McHugh, right, heads the PriceAdvantage division of Skyline Products. Greg Stadjuhar is vice president of sales and marketing for Skyline. Photo by CAROL LAWRENCE, THE GAZETTE