In March, Schönbrunn Zoo’s sea lion patriarch had to be euthanized at the age of 19. But the visitors’ favorite sea lion left one last offspring. On July 19th a sea lion pup came into the world. “Female sea lions have a gestation period of almost a year. The mother of the young animal is the female Nina, who gave birth to little Pedro in 2019 and therefore already has experience in raising young", explains zoo director Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck. In the first few days, the mother and young animal were almost exclusively in the backstage area. Now the baby sea lion is waddling more and more often at the side of its mother in the outdoor area and can be seen by the visitors.

Nina and her offspring live in the mother and young animal area of ​​the sea lion facility. Hering-Hagenbeck: “Maned sea lions live on the coasts of South America. They are able to swim from birth. So far, the young animal has not yet dared to go into the water. Once it is skillful enough on land and in the water, the two of them can join the group. ”Since yesterday the team of keepers has been certain that the young animal is a male. Now keepers are in search of a suitable name. In any case, the little one already knows exactly what he wants. If he is hungry, he loudly draws his mother's attention to himself. The young animal is suckled in the first six to eight months. Slowly he’ll start to nibble playfully at the fish that will later be on the menu.