Sea Lions at the Audubon Zoo

The Sea Lions steal the show nearly everyday at the Audubon Zoo. They have a big welcomed return home.

When most people think of Sea Lions ...they think of cold weather, right? Obviously they have never been the Audubon Nature Institute’s Audubon Zoo.

At the Audubon Zoo you can catch five lions that have their own section of the zoo called Odenheimer Sea Lion Pool. This has, over time, become one of the most popular attractions of the visitors of the zoo.

The Audubon Zoo has trainers hired to work with the animals daily. They perform for an audience and train daily. Children absolutely love to watch these Louisiana native animals. They work hard, and are very smart also. If you watch closely... they also like to play tricks on their trainers. It’s funny and everyone enjoys it. It is probably one of the greatest zoo attractions that the zoo has to offer.

There are five sea lions that reside at the Audubon:

Lilli which is the most outgoing of them all.
Sushi which is probably the best performer
Katie which has the most brains (or at least obeys better)
Cinnamon which is like to mother to them all (30+ yrs)
Porter which is the hardest worker, and also the only male out of the bunch.

About a Sea Lion

Male lions can reach 1,000 lbs-1,200 lbs and 7-8 feet in length. It is more common to see those around 800 lbs-900 lbs; however, they have been seen much larger. The female lions are a much smaller. They can reach 6-7 feet in length and usually weigh about 200-300 lbs but have been know to reach 600 lbs on occasion.

They can vary in color due to many factors such as climate, habitat, the sex of the animal, etc. Males are generally darker than the females, and the lions are typically in the brown color whether it is a darker brown, or a lighter brown. Sometimes, a male will lighten up as he ages.

Their face resembles that of a dog with the nasal shape and the whiskers that are on it, and the rounded head.

Mother lions usually give birth in the warmer months of June, July and August. Young sea lions are called “pups” and they normally weigh anywhere from 10 lbs. to 20 lbs. at birth. They become vocal at this very early age so that they can be sought out by their mother and the mother can find them also. They are also found by sight and smell. They learn this early because for one, all sea lions are very vocal and speak to each other with their particular vocal system which is caught on by the pups early, being that they are a very intelligent animal, and second, the pups need to nurse from their mother for at least 5 or 6 months. It has been seen in some cases for a pup to nurse for as long as 1 ½ yrs.

They are very social animals, and are very trainable to say the least. They normally feed on fish, squids, herring and octopus. There have been a few (and I mean in the single digits) reports of attacks on humans, but they were mostly determined that the animal was trying to play with the person, and did not continue attacking once it realized that the person was hurt. You have to realize that these are still wild animals. Even though they are intelligent, and trainable, you still shouldn’t approach them as if they were you friendly neighborhood dog. Leave that up to the professionals and enjoy the show that they put on.

Their Return after Hurricane Katrina

The lions were evacuated from the Audubon Zoo prior to the deadly Hurricane Katrina, for their safety, and they were split up. Cinnamon and Katie were sent to Houston, while Lilli, Sushi, and Porter were sent to Gavelston, Texas. These places took very good care of the New Orleans residents, but the people of the city, and the tourists of the zoo are glad to see these five very active and intelligent animals back to their hometown. They are very playful and they put on great shows to the people of the Audubon Nature Institute.

Not to mention, Their trainers really missed them!!

Go back from Sea Lions to Audubon Zoo