After much anticipation, (18 months to be exact) proud parents 'Adelaide' and 'Ozzie' are delighted to announce the safe arrival of 'Hugo'. Hugo was born on AFL Grand Final Day, September 28, weighing in at five kg and 30 cm long.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Now 11 weeks since his birth, Dolphin Marine Conservation Park are ready to announce his arrival to the public.
It should be noted that Hugo is not your average bouncing baby boy. Nicknamed 'Huggie' by his doting carers, Hugo is an endangered Australian Sea-lion. He was born at Dolphin Marine Conservation Park (DMCP) in Coffs Harbour as part of the Australasian Species Management Program (ASMP). The ASMP is collaborative program conducted by zoos in Australia to maintain viable populations of endangered species.
Now almost three months old, Hugo is the first baby for mother 'Adelaide' an Australian sea-lion who was rescued and raised at Dolphin Marine Conservation Park.
Despite being orphaned 12 years ago, Adelaide's maternal instinct kicked in immediately, and Hugo is thriving. Today he weighs a healthy 17kgs and Hugo drinks from Adelaide every day. While Adelaide's milk is Hugo's meal of first choice, he is now experimenting with the odd fish. Milk is still his favourite though!
Hugo's father is 'Ozzie', Dolphin Marine Conservation Park's largest sea-lion weighing in at a massive 150kgs. Ozzie was also born at the park as part of the ASMP for this species.
The team at Dolphin Marine Conservation Park have commented on the remarkable likeness between Hugo and his dad Ozzie.
"Hugo looks like his father with his tongue always sticking out!", laughed carer Antigone "Tig" McElroy. "He is the loudest sea-lion at the park too! We can hear his unique call everywhere. He sounds much like a goat!"
"Hugo loves exploring and is always watching seagulls fly past. He certainly isn't shy and is very curious and adventurous, always keen to play with something new. Nothing startles him", she said.
Park Vet, Dr Duan March supervised the birth with the help of the entire marine mammal team from Dolphin Marine Conservation Park who worked around the clock to ensure the safe arrival of Hugo.
Dr March said historically the Australian Sea Lion was heavily hunted and while this no longer happens today, a lot of the research indicates that population numbers are still declining.
"These animals face a range of threats in the wild, including mortalities due to entanglement in fishing gear and disease and a lot of their natural habitat is degraded or over fished.
"These captive breeding programs are an important insurance policy in case numbers continue to decline in the wild, and they are also great ambassadors for their wild counterparts, as the seals are used to educate visitors to the park on the threats facing this species and what they can do to help."
