Sea lion mum and pup on the move

Last week the Trust supported the Department of Conservation to move a sea lion pup and its mum from Dunedin’s Tomahawk Beach to a quieter location.  “We decided to move Gem and her 5 day old pup because of the risk of the pup becoming injured or harassed in its current  location. Gem would have soon left her pup alone on the beach to go searching for food.  At that point, the pup would  have become much more vulnerable,” Coastal Otago Area Manager Robin Thomas said.

Tomahawk Beach is a popular dog walking beach and a fence had been erected around the pair to protect them. Volunteers had been keeping guard during daylight hours.  The sea lions had been popular and were visited by many people, especially families. “While this has been a good learning experience, we felt that the level of interaction was not sustainable in the long-term,” Mr Thomas said.

Gem was restrained and sedated by a wildlife vet, lifted onto a vehicle provided by the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust and
transported to another beach in the Dunedin area.  Her pup was transported in a cage. At the new location the pup was tagged and a DNA sample was taken.  During the translocation it was determined that the pup was a female. The move was undertaken by DOC staff, members of theNew Zealand Sea Lion Trust, researchers from the University of Otago and with the support of the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust.  “There are always risks associated with handling wildlife.  However the risk of leaving the pup alone on Tomahawk Beach was greater,” Mr Thomas said.

Mother and daughter bonded immediately on release at the relocation site, a site familiar to Gem as she had been born
here in 2006. They remained there for the next three days before Gem finally got hungry enough to go off to feed at sea leaving her pup
alone for the first time. See slide show below! For more information see:

http://www.sealiontrust.org.nz/ or www.doc.govt.nz

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