Yes I do live in the UK and no we don’t have native Californian Sealions! However… one of our absolute all time favourite places to visit is ZSL Whipsnade Zoo – part of the Zoological Society of London. In 20 minutes from leaving our front door we can be surrounded by the most amazing animals (and photographic opportunities!) with animals from around the world. Whipsnade have a hugely successful breeding programme and we’ve been fortunate enough to see elephant calves, zebra foals, common and pygmy hippo calves, within days of their birth – and that’s just part of the list! There will be plenty more photos of them to come!
One of our favourite zoo babies was born 2 weeks after my son – sealion Dominic. At 5 years old he’s turning into a chunky chap now although he’s probably got another couple of hundred kilos to go before he’s fully grown. They’re introducing him to a harem of girlfriends in the hope that a new gorgeous little pup will arrive. The sealions do a show three times a day during our school holidays – their internal clock knows when and they’re lining up at the door to get out there and show off.
One day I’d love to see them in the wild, but for now, with them happy, engaged and breeding (and living a very long way from California) we’ll love them here for now.
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