North America's only South American Sea Lion Passes Away.

Ituri

Ituri

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15+ year member
Nauticus a 21 year old South American sea lion passed away recently. He was the last member of his species in North America.

Sea lion brought smiles to zoo-goers for 21 years

EDMONTON - Nauticus, a 21-year-old sea lion who lived her whole life at the Edmonton Valley Zoo, died on Friday.
“Everybody loved Nauticus for her joy, playfulness and regal spirit,” said Edmonton Valley Zoo director Denise Prefontaine in a media release. “Two minutes with her was all it took to make you smile. She was smart, independent and very sweet.”
Nauticus, a South American sea lion, was born at the Edmonton Valley Zoo on Aug. 8, 1990. The life span of a sea lion in usually between 16 to 20 years.
“Sixteen is a full life for these guys. She’s got tremendous longevity in her family, but she’s an old girl,” said Dr. Milton Ness, veterinarian with the Edmonton Valley Zoo.
Her mother lived to be 31, and one of her sisters lived into her 20s, Ness said.
“We’ve never found another South American sea lion older than her mother was,” Ness said.
Recently, Nauticus started to go days without eating, Ness said. On March 29, she was given an anesthetic for a minor surgery to deal with some teeth and abdominal issues, Ness said.
Ness noted that surgery can be difficult for sea lions of any age. However, it was necessary to determine an undiagnosed illness Nauticus was suffering from.
“She never really bounded back from the whole process,” Ness said.
The sea lion’s cause of death has not yet been determined. The results from a post-mortem should be available in the next one to two weeks, Ness said.
Nauticus, along with the zoo’s harbour seals Hula and Makani, moved into a new arctic exhibit on Dec. 23. Ness said he believes Nauticus adjusted well to the move.
“I have no doubt that she was happy as she could ever be in the new exhibit,” Ness said.
Nauticus spent her entire life around humans and had a strong bond with her keepers, Ness said. She was keen to perform a trick commonly taught to sea lions, where the animals plant their lips on their keeper’s face.
“If I had to do a complete physical, I would get a minimum of four ‘kisses’,” Ness said.
jcummins@edmontonjournal.com
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
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I know that this is an old post but while it may be true that this sealion was the last individual of the South American species in zoos in the United States and Canada I think it is worth mentioning that there are three Patagonian sealions kept at San Juan de Aragon zoo in Mexico city , so the species is still being exhibited in North America.
 
Evidently some are floating about in private - no idea on numbers, but I do know of a zoo that wishes to acquire some.
 
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