GERMANY: Anton the Baby sea lion makes his first public appearance at Cologne zoo

Record ID: 1537205

  • Title: GERMANY: Anton the Baby sea lion makes his first public appearance at Cologne zoo
  • Date: 19th July 2008
  • Summary: SEA LION
  • Embargoed: 4th August 2008 00:40
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Nature / Environment,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA89I4VSAS3IQZHHH2CRHFI8B99
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Baby sea lion, known as little Anton, makes his first public appearance at the Cologne zoo.
    Little Anton, a baby sea lion, is causing quite a stir.
    Born on June 16, the young cub made his first public appearance to eager visitors at the Cologne zoo on Thursday (July17).
    Anton, who is about 75 centimetres long, was born much to the surprise of the keepers of his mother, Astrid. This is second time round as mother while it's the first time for Anton's father, Yumni, who arrived at the zoo in 2007.
    His first steps into the arena appeared to be a relaxed affair but his presence is causing excitement not only his keepers but to the sea lions.
    "Yes at the moment we have here a little Californian sea lion, a male. We call him little Anton and he is causing quite a bit of a stir in the enclosure. It has led to some complications. He seems to be so sweet that another female wanted to adopt him and we had a lot of trouble because the mother of course did not want to give him up so we had to fence in this other female who has been here a very long time and called Moehrchen. So, we now have to make sure that the two of them are separated at all times."
    Infant sea lions are generally breast-fed by their mothers for around three months. In captivity, they normally live between 12-14 years. Apart the Californian coast in the United States, they are also found in the wilderness on the Galapagos islands.
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