Gallery: Adorable sea lion pup born at Woburn
BY READERS DIGEST
1st Jan 2015 Animals & Pets
Staff at Woburn Safari Park were delighted this month to welcome a new addition to their fold: this two week old sea lion pup is the first to be born in the park in 12 years. Scroll down for video.
The young Californian sea lion pup is as yet unsexed and unnamed. Keepers are keeping their distance to make sure that the mother and pup have plenty of opportunities to bond.
So far the pup has spent plenty of time with her mother, Kira, and grandmother Spratt while venturing into her enclosure's beach to explore her habitat.
This is the beginning of the third generations of sea lions at Woburn, bringing the number in the rookery up to six.
Dad Max is the only male in the group and this is his first pup with mum Kira.
Lianne Hislop, the park's Senior Animal Keeper, said,
"We are absolutely delighted to welcome the new pup, as it feels like we have been waiting a really long time for the little one to be born! It took Max a while to settle in and for the girls to fully accept him, so it’s fantastic to see them as one big family. Kira is proving to be a very attentive mum and is doing a fantastic job looking after her newborn.”
Image via Helen Sherratt
So far Kira hasn't yet allowed her baby in the pool as she's not old enough to swim. The park has designed their enclosure with a high-tech filtration system which keeps the pool as similar to the waters the lions would swim in in the wild as possible, complete with algae.
New daily talks and demonstrations give visitors to the park the perfect opportunity to spot the cute critter, who just turned two weeks old.
Watch the cute pup below:
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