This article from 2010 says they have a male Hawaiian Monk Seal which was abandoned as a pup and later sent to Long, and that "the long-term plan" is to return him to Hawaii where he would be placed in a public facility (the seal is considered unfit to survive if released into the wild). This may be the same seal because the article notes that they obviously don't want any diseases brought into the wild population if he is returned to Hawaii. I couldn't find anything on whether the seal was returned to Hawaii or not. Monk seal taken to UCSC lab for study, treatment
I'm aware, though there hasn't been any permanently placed on the mainland since then. Just low availability of a protected species?
it has been ages since I've been to Sea World, but doesn't the San Antonio location have Hawaiian monk seals? I haven't been since childhood, and I can't recall if that was one of the species I saw there, but I recall the Pacific walrus clearly growing up in Abilene, we had some geriatric, blind California sealions in the old exhibit there (they are now all deceased, and the exhibit has been turned into a howler monkey cage) in 2000 I got to go up to Alaska and see wild Steller sealions napping on a buoy, and wild harbour seals lounging on the ice of Glacier Bay
i believe i have seen California sea lion Harbor seal Gray seal Hawaiian monk seal Walrus Northern fur seal
Currently the only continental place with Hawaiians is Minnesota Zoo. Looks like they had them in the past though: Hawaiian Monk Seal News - Monachus Guardian 2 (2): November 1999
I feel like I’ve seen many pinniped species so far Gray Seal (Detroit, Lincoln Park, Toledo) Harbor Seal( Detroit, Toledo, Central Park) California Sea Lion (Central Park, Shedd, SeaWorld) Walrus (SeaWorld) Northern Fur Seal (Wild).
I have seen: Harbor Seal* California Sea Lion* Spotted Seal Ringed Seal Walrus* Steller's Sea Lion* Gray Seal* asterisk denotes species seen in the wild all species have been seen in captivity as well
California sea lion * Grey seal Guadalupe fur seal Harbor seal * Hawaiian monk seal Ringed seal Steller's sea lion Walrus "*" implies I've seen the species in the wild and in captivity
In captivity I have seen: Steller sea lion Californian sea lion South American sea lion South American fur seal Brown fur seal Spotted seal Baikal seal Grey seal Ringed seal Bearded seal
A friend told me today that elephant seals are rarely kept because they tend to die easily in captivity; for example, the male Coolio at Pittsburgh Zoo suddenly died last December. Does anyone have records on how long elephant seals have survived in zoos and aquariums, such as Minazo from Japan? I'm also interested in similar stats for the leopard seals that were at Taronga Zoo and ribbon seals that were historically kept (I believe there is still one male in Japan).
The book "Longevity of Mammals in Captivity; From the Living Collections of the World” (Richard Weigl; 2005) records southern elephant seals living 23 years 8 months (Antwerp), 23 years (Madrid) and 21 years 7 months (Stuttgart). The same book lists the captive longevity records for leopard seal as 16 years 5 months (Marineland of New Zealand) and 12 years 6 months (Taronga).
Zootierliste list them as former holding, so the one in Fukushima is probably the only captive animal.
Still kicking myself for not allowing more time in Japan to visit gems like this aforementioned animal!
That location is on my shortlist of places to visit once I'm able to travel again. Unfortunately I think America's going to be the last country the rest of the world will lift travel bans on.
