#0375 · 🦊 mammals

New Zealand Sea Lion

🇳🇱 Nieuw-Zeelandse Zeeleeuw ·Phocarctos hookeri

ENendangered 🦊 Mammals 📍 outside Europe

10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © Dave Houston · CC BY-NC 4.0
2. © Stewart Armstrong · CC BY 4.0
3. © Christian Kropf · CC BY-NC 4.0
4. © Giverny · CC BY-NC 4.0
5. Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand:© Amaël Borzée · CC BY-NC 4.0
6. Clutha-Distrikt, Otago, Neuseeland:© Christian Kropf · CC BY-NC 4.0
7. Auckland Islands Nature Reserve, Auckland islands, NZ-SO, NZ:© Christopher Stephens · CC BY-SA 4.0
8. Southland, New Zealand:© judyo1 · CC BY-NC 4.0
9. Aramoana 9082, New Zealand:© Oscar Thomas · CC BY-NC 4.0
10. Enderby Island, Auckland Islands, New Zealand:© Greg Lasley · CC BY-NC 4.0

what is it?

The New Zealand sea lion ( Phocarctos hookeri ), also known as Hooker's sea lion , and whakahao in Māori, is a species of sea lion that primarily breeds on New Zealand's subantarctic Auckland and Campbell islands and to some extent around the coast of New Zealand's South and Stewart islands. The New Zealand sea lion numbers around 10,000 and is perhaps the world's rarest sea lion species. They are the only species of the genus Phocarctos .

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 3,516iNaturalist observations
threat ENendangered

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
3,516 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named by John Edward Gray in 1844 (182 years ago).
Listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.