Auckland Zoo sealion/seals

[Zoofan15]

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

 

[Zoofan15]

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.

 

[Zoofan15]

I thought Scuttle had been desexed as he has no crest on his head. When I was a toddler in the 1980s the entire male Liquorice and the females Sinka and Kline must have been the ones I saw. I don't remember them but my mother and grandmother do. When did Liquorice pass away?

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.



Photo credit: https://postcardsnz.com/collections/magnets