Sea lions in demand, supply low for Riverbanks and other zoos
.JPG "Construction continues throughout Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, Monday, March 23, 2015.")
As Riverbanks Zoo and Garden prepares its new sea lion exhibit, lining up the new zoo residents is every bit as complicated as building the new pool.
The movement of captive California sea lions is rigidly controlled and the marine mammals are highly desired by zoos and aquariums. As hundreds of zoo officials from throughout North America gather this week for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums mid-year meeting at Riverbanks, one of the topics for discussion is the sea lion supply-and-demand struggle.
“We want them to understand there are a lot of facilities on the list, and it might take time” to acquire sea lions, said Jennifer Skidmore, who handles marine mammal permitting for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Reproduction by the 492 sea lions currently in zoos and aquariums can’t keep up with the demand for new facilities. Only 308 of those 492 have been captive born. Most of the rest have ended up in zoos through a NOAA effort to find homes for stranded sea lions that can’t be released back into the wild. Often, those have suffered injuries or repeatedly strand on shore for unexplained reasons.
But the number of nonreleasable stranded sea lions varies tremendously year-to-year, Skidmore said. There were 28 in 2013, then only two last year. A recent spate of strandings in California could mean a larger supply for zoos, but biologists first do everything they can to return the creatures to the wild.
The staff at Riverbanks saw the hurdles coming and started working to acquire new sea lions as soon as funding for the new facility was approved in 2012. John Davis, curator of mammals, is optimistic Riverbanks will have sea lions when the exhibit opens in late 2016, but he can’t be 100 percent certain.
ENTRY PLAZA
“We’re aware of the current challenges with the captive population (of sea lions),” . “I reached out to every contact I knew of, everybody at Riverbanks is reaching out.”
They have some time. The sea lion exhibit is in the second phase of the $36 million zoo construction project. Grizzlies, river otters, parking, a new entrance and a children’s garden come first.
The sea lion pool will be large enough for five to eight sea lions and three harbor seals. The seals are less difficult to acquire, and Davis is more confident those will be available.
Fortunately, Riverbanks has several things working in its favor. The zoo has a history with sea lions, having exhibited them from 1974 through 2009. The old freshwater sea lion pool was shut down because it was beginning to fall below standards. The norm for keeping sea lions changed from fresh water to saltwater, and it didn’t make sense to put an expensive new saltwater filtration system in the old facility.
The two remaining sea lions at Riverbanks, Zuma and Sonoma, were sent to the Milwaukee County Zoo, and Zuma has since moved to Brookfield Zoo in Chicago.
Riverbanks also has a solid reputation for breeding animals that haven’t had reproductive success in other facilities. Those efforts for black-footed cats, Toco toucans and howler monkeys have won awards.
And Riverbanks’ new facility should be one of the best in the country. Located just inside the entrance, the sea lion facility has been designed with flexibility to care for animals in two holding pools while also displaying them for the public in a large main pool. It’ll have 280,000 gallons of saltwater.
Riverbanks will show off the plans – and the first retaining wall growing out of the ground – this week to executives from other zoos and aquariums as well as NOAA officials. Davis would especially like to see some of the stranded sea lions in the Riverbanks collection.
“I like that story,” Davis said. “It’s necessary. They might lose a flipper or lose eyesight and they wouldn’t survive in the wild. To turn that around and be rehabilitated in a zoo is a good story.”
He also looks forward to being part of the supply-and-demand solution.
“I want to breed sea lions,” Davis said. “That’s how we get over these humps – we all work together and overcome challenges.”
Construction update
The first phase of the $36 million construction effort at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden is nearing key moments.
Seal and sea lions exhibit: Slated to be finished in late spring 2016, walls for pools are being formed. It’s designed to look like San Francisco’s Pier 39, and will feature multiple spots to watch the animals play. One popular spot will have the feel of being underwater with them with glass to the side and above the viewing area.
New entrance: Slated to be finished this summer, building exterior is nearing completion. Landscaping and more space will make the entrance look nicer, and a new visitors center and larger gift shop will make it more convenient to get inside and grab some goodies before you leave.
Additional parking and improved visitor access: Slated to be finished this spring. This is about flow, adding several hundred parking spaces closer to Rivermont Drive and improving the traffic patterns.
Grizzly and otter exhibit: Slated to be finished this summer, faux stone walls and building exteriors are nearly complete, moat and pools still taking shape. Butch and Sundance, the popular brother grizzlies who grew up at Riverbanks, will return to this larger exhibit. The zoo’s first river otter exhibit will be tucked in the front of the grizzlies, in a glassed pool for easy viewing.
Children’s garden: Slated to be finished this winter , play structures are going up. The three-acre site will feature a splash zone designed to look like a rocky section of the Saluda River, a cluster of interconnected tree houses, a dinosaur fossil dig, a vegetable garden and an open lawn for kids who don’t need props to play.
This story was originally published March 23, 2015 at 8:24 PM.