Taronga Zoo Taronga Zoo's fur seals and sea lions

[Zoofan15]

Looks pretty accurate. I remember Nala's birth was celebrated as it was the first in a while and the first also in the new GSO. Cheers for putting this together. It's marvelous to see breeding taking off again.

No worries, it was interesting to research.

I’ve enjoyed seeing the Australian sea lions feature in the Taronga docos over the years. Their reproductive cycle is interesting given they give birth 17-18 months after mating and calving isn’t synchronised. Compare this to the California sea lion, which gives birth 11 months after mating - with all pups born in New Zealand or Australian zoos born in Southern Hemisphere zoos (June in the Northern Hemisphere).

 

[Zoofan15]

New Zealand Fur Seal Births

After the birth of Birubi was reported to be the first New Zealand fur seal birth at Taronga Zoo in over 20 years, the zoo has now welcomed four births in four years!

Something interesting I noticed about the birth of the latest pup is that she was born in January, while the three previous pups were born in December:

0.1 Birubi (21/12/2020)
1.0 Kobe (15/12/2022)
0.1 Eve (24/12/2023)
0.1 Pea (15/01/2025)

Marineland Napier’s New Zealand fur seal pups were always born in December; but upon researching, I see there’s a potential range of November to January.

Factoring in delayed implantation, births occur 12 months after mating. Taronga did well to manage the mating of Bondi and Keke in December 2022, while Keke had a newborn pup (Kobe). The subsequent pup (Eve) was a month old by comparison upon the conception of her sibling (Pea) last year.

 

[Zoofan15]

Taronga Zoo - Pinnipeds Update

Australian sea lion Charlie has died.

Australian sea lion Storm has returned to Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary, with Moby returning to Taronga Zoo.

An Australian sea lion pup was born January to Charlie and Tarni and named Bair.

A New Zealand fur seal pup was born January to Bondi and Keke and named Pea.

Updated Population List (2025):

———————————

California sea lion:

1.0 Cisco
1.0 Diego
1.0 Murphy
1.0 Pepper

Total: 4.0

———————————

Australian sea lion:

1.0 Moby
0.1 Nala
0.1 April
0.1 Tarni
0.1 Amalie
0.1 Bair

Total: 1.5

———————————

New Zealand fur seal:

1.0 Bondi
1.0 Abel
1.0 Kobi
0.1 Ollie
0.1 Keke
0.1 Pea

Total: 3.3

———————————

 

[Tiger91]

Any mention of what Charlie died of ?

 

[Jambo]

Any mention of what Charlie died of ?

According to @Osedax, he passed due to kidney issues.

 

[Zoofan15]

Any mention of what Charlie died of ?

It was reported by @Osedax that Charlie died of kidney issues. He was 19 years of age.

 

[Tiger91]

That's a fair age for one to get to. It'll be interesting to see if they breed Moby now he is back.

 

[Zoofan15]

That's a fair age for one to get to. It'll be interesting to see if they breed Moby now he is back.

I’m hoping they will. Moby is unrelated to Nala, April and Tarni; but is the half brother of Amalie and Bair (who were also sired by Charlie).

Charlie’s pups:

1.0 Moby (2017) Charlie x Lexie
1.0 Torre (2018) Charlie x Nala
0.1 Amalie (2020) Charlie x Nala
0.1 Bair (2025) Charlie x Tarni

 

[Zoofan15]

Taronga Zoo - Australian Sea Lion History

Thank you to @steveroberts for sharing this photo from Taronga Zoo’s 1987-1988 report. The photo is of two Australian sea lions named Kotic and Kasha.


Photo credit: Taronga Zoo

Kotic and Kasha arrived at Taronga Zoo as wild rescues in 1987 (on site by 30/06/1987); and were joined by a female from Adelaide Zoo in 1987/1988 (on site by 30/06/1988).

Kasha went on to produce the first Australian sea lion pup born at Taronga Zoo in 1996 (Katanya) and a second pup in 2001 (Kira). Katanya was sired by a bull that was previously unknown to us. When Katanya debuted, Taronga Zoo noted a female named Karah was believed to be pregnant (though no pup was ever announced).

Based on the information in the annual report, I believe there’s a strong likelihood that Katanya’s sire was Kotic; and Karah was the female transferred in from Adelaide Zoo.