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Auckland Zoo sealion/seals

Discussion in 'New Zealand' started by nicola08, 3 Jul 2009.

  1. Zoofan15

    Zoofan15 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    History of Auckland Zoo California Sea Lions

    Auckland Zoo imported a male, Liquorice (June 1979), and two females, Sinka (June 1980) and Kline (June 1980) in 1981. The females gave birth to the following offspring:

    Kline:
    Unnamed (U): Dec 1984
    Krista (F): Dec 1985
    Kelp (F): Dec 1989
    Unnamed (F): Dec 1990
    Keel (F): Dec 1991
    Unnamed (F): Oct 1992
    Kipper (F): Dec 1993

    Sinka:
    Sleek (F): Dec 1989
    Unnamed (F): Dec 1990
    Scuttle (M): Dec 1991
    Unnamed (F): Dec 1992
    Sax (M): Dec 1993
     
    Last edited: 10 Nov 2016
  2. Zoofan15

    Zoofan15 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I have made a mistake in the above info. Liquorice was born in June 1976, not June 1979, so he was not the male imported in 1981 with Sinka and Kline (who was born June 1979). I don't think Liquorice was born at Auckland Zoo though as he was born in June. In the Southern Hemisphere, California sea lions are born in the summer (December), while in the Northern Hemisphere, they are born in their summer (June).

    Either way, he was indeed exported to Negara Zoo (Malaysia) 11 March 1993 with Sleek (Dec 1989). According to my records, Kelp (Dec 1989) did not join them, but either way died in October 1993.
     
  3. Zoofan15

    Zoofan15 Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    I recently came across this image online of Auckland Zoo's California Sea Lions, which would have been taken sometime between the late 80s and early 90s. It was sold on various merchandise in the zoo's gift shop including postcards and magnets up until recently (despite being mislabelled as seals).

    It shows the sexual dimorphism of the entire adult male Liquorice, compared to the females, Sinka and Kline, and their sub adult offspring. For many years, I was largely unaware of the extreme sexual dimorphism seen in California Sea Lions (despite knowing about Elephant Seals etc.) due to knowing Scuttles was a male and seeing him as basically a slightly larger version of the females.

    As the post I have quoted pointed out, Scuttles was castrated and therefore did not display the sexual dimorphism illustrated by his sire in this picture.

    The picture is also one of the few pictures available online of the old sea lion enclosure. I never saw it in person but have seen footage of it via early seasons of the Zoo TV programme. As illustrated, it was relatively small enclosure with water surrounding a concrete island. It was built in the 1920s.

    After the sea lions moved to the Sea Lion and Penguins Shores (now the Beach section of Te Wao Nui) in 2001, this enclosure was reused for waterfowl, before being demolished in the late 2010s to make way for the Te Wao Nui precinct.

    [​IMG]

    Photo credit: https://postcardsnz.com/collections/magnets
     
    Last edited: 1 Jun 2018