Endangered
Galápagos sea lion
Zalophus wollebaeki
Galápagos sea lion is a carnivore in the family Otariidae (order Carnivora) — Zalophus wollebaeki, recorded as Endangered.
Appearance
The foreflippers have a short fur extending from the wrist to the middle of the dorsal fin surface, but other than that, the flippers are covered in black, leathery skin.
Slightly smaller than their Californian congener, Galápagos sea lions range from 1.5 to 2.5 m (4.9 to 8.2 ft) in length and weigh between 50 and 400 kg (110 and 880 lb), with the males averaging larger than females.
Range and habitat
Galápagos sea lions can be found on all of the main islands of the Galápagos archipelago, and on a number of smaller islands in the area. Less than a quarter of them reside on San Cristobal Island. The Galápagos sea lion is a sea lion that lives and breeds on the Galápagos Islands and, in smaller numbers, on Isla de la Plata (Ecuador).
The majority of the Galápagos population is protected, as the islands are a part of an Ecuadorian national park surrounded by a marine resources reserve. Although the Galápagos Islands are a popular tourist destination, strict rules exist to protect all wildlife from disturbance.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
While information on the diet of Galapagos sea lions is limited, it is known that they are carnivores that feed mostly on sardines. During El Niño events, occurring when the water temperature pattern changes in the Pacific, sardine populations either die or migrate, and sea lions dive deeper to feed on lantern fish.
Breeding takes place from May through January. Because of this prolonged breeding season and the extensive care required by the pups from their mother, there are dependent pups in the colonies year round. When the pup is two to three weeks old, the cow will mate again.
In crisis
Fluctuating between 20,000 and 50,000 sea lions, the population does have a few threats. During el Niño events, the population tends to decrease as ocean temperatures warm and cold-adapted marine life on that the sea lions depend declines, that lead to die-offs or cessation of reproduction. Sharks and killer whales are the main predators of the sea lion.
Regulations governing human behavior help mitigate risks to sea lions due to human contact, but as the human population continues to grow it nevertheless presents risks of accident and disease. Stray dogs introduced by humans form packs and attack sea lions.
Galápagos sea lion is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Galápagos sea lion, Wikidata item Q998769. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
