🦭New Zealand sea lion
The New Zealand sea lion, once known as Hooker's sea lion, and as pakake or whakahao (male) and kake (female) in Māori, is a species of sea lion that is endemic to New Zealand and primarily breeds on New Zealand's subantarctic Auckland and Campbell islands, and have in recent years been slowly breeding and recolonising around the coast of New Zealand's South and Stewart islands. The New Zealand sea lion population estimate is less than 10,000 individuals and fewer than 5,000 breeding adults. This number has declined from an estimated population of over 15,000 in the early 2000s, and it is one of the world's rarest sea lion species. It is the only species of the genus Phocarctos.
Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
IUCN Red List assessment, 2015.
- Body mass
- 274 kg
- Body length
- 2.26 m
- Shoulder height
- not recorded
- Top speed
- not recorded
- Bite force
- not recorded
- Maximum lifespan
- 23 years
Everything we know about the New Zealand sea lion
Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.
Body mass274 kgrecord 400 kg · SeaLifeBaseCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Record: largest individual on record
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
By sex
- Female160 kgSeaLifeBasev25.04SeaLifeBase populates Weight independently of Length; the two are not guaranteed to describe the same individual. Verify before publishing.
Figures vary
- 188 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: low
Body length2.26 mCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
By sex
- Female2 mSeaLifeBasev25.04
Figures vary
- 3.3 mSeaLifeBasev25.04
Brain mass408 gCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Maximum lifespan23 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Generation length9.99 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Age at maturity5.6 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Gestation1.0 yearsCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 1.0 yearsAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: low
Litter size1COMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 1AnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: low
Trophic levelOmnivoreCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Activity cycleCrepuscular / mixedestimatedCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Volume l274 LaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.
estimated = a model's estimate for a species nobody has measured; average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.
Not recorded for New Zealand sea lion yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.
Family tree
- kingdomAnimalia
- ›phylumChordata
- ›classMammalia
- ›orderCarnivora
- ›familyOtariidae
- ›genusPhocarctos
- ›speciesPhocarctos hookeri
- classMammals · Mammalia
- orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
- familyOtariidae
- genusPhocarctos
All 14 branches ↓Fewer branches ↑
- kingdomMetazoa
- phylumChordata
- subphylumCraniata
- subphylumVertebrata
- superclassGnathostomata
- superclassSarcopterygii
- superclassTetrapoda
- classMammals · Mammalia
- subclassTheria
- superorderLaurasiatheria
- orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
- suborderCaniformia
- familyOtariidae
- genusPhocarctos
More about the New Zealand sea lion
No videos of the New Zealand sea lion yet.
We have 44,653 videos so far, and none of them features this animal yet.
All videos →Compare the New Zealand sea lion
Pick a tool — the New Zealand sea lion is already selected.
Compare every stat with any other animal.
Stand them on the same floor and see who's bigger.
How speed, brain and bite scale with body size. This animal isn't in the sample yet.
See where it sits in the tree of life.