It is hard to guess what a Leopard seal weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) on average weights 352.84 kg (777.87 lbs).
The Leopard seal is from the family Phocidae (genus: Hydrurga). It is usually born with about 30 kg (66.14 lbs). They can live for up to 26 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 3.05 meter (10′ 0″).
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx), also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). Its only natural predator is the killer whale. It feeds on a wide range of prey including cephalopods, other pinnipeds, krill, birds and fish. It is the only species in the genus Hydrurga. Its closest relatives are the Ross seal, the crabeater seal and the Weddell seal, which together are known as the tribe of Lobodontini seals. The name hydrurga means “water worker” and leptonyx is the Greek for “small clawed”.
Animals of the same family as a Leopard seal
We found other animals of the Phocidae family:
- Southern elephant seal bringing 1600 kilos (3527.39 lbs) to the scale
- Caspian seal bringing 62.3 kilos (137.35 lbs) to the scale
- Ringed seal bringing 70.96 kilos (156.44 lbs) to the scale
- Weddell seal bringing 400 kilos (881.85 lbs) to the scale
- Crabeater seal bringing 225 kilos (496.04 lbs) to the scale
- Harbor seal bringing 87.31 kilos (192.49 lbs) to the scale
- Baikal seal bringing 89.5 kilos (197.31 lbs) to the scale
- Bearded seal bringing 280 kilos (617.29 lbs) to the scale
- Ross seal bringing 208.63 kilos (459.95 lbs) to the scale
- Ribbon seal bringing 90 kilos (198.42 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a Leopard seal
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Hydrurga leptonyx:
- Baird’s tapir with a weight of 292.39 kilos (644.61 lbs)
- Malayan tapir with a weight of 309.61 kilos (682.57 lbs)
- Horse with a weight of 401.8 kilos (885.82 lbs)
- Polar bear with a weight of 373.35 kilos (823.09 lbs)
- Plains zebra with a weight of 400 kilos (881.85 lbs)
- Muskox with a weight of 312.67 kilos (689.32 lbs)
- Grévy’s zebra with a weight of 405.5 kilos (893.97 lbs)
- Takin with a weight of 292.76 kilos (645.42 lbs)
- Dugong with a weight of 295 kilos (650.36 lbs)
- Weddell seal with a weight of 400 kilos (881.85 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a Leopard seal
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Leopard seal:
- White rhinoceros with a size of 2.59 meter (8′ 6″)
- Water buffalo with a size of 2.65 meter (8′ 9″)
- Weddell seal with a size of 2.55 meter (8′ 5″)
- Sumatran rhinoceros with a size of 2.77 meter (9′ 2″)
- Short-beaked common dolphin with a size of 2.44 meter (8′ 1″)
- Giant eland with a size of 2.52 meter (8′ 4″)
- Walrus with a size of 2.88 meter (9′ 6″)
- American bison with a size of 2.85 meter (9′ 5″)
- Grévy’s zebra with a size of 2.7 meter (8′ 11″)
- Common eland with a size of 2.66 meter (8′ 9″)
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Leopard seal
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Leopard seal:
- Straw-coloured fruit bat with an average maximal age of 21.75 years
- Platypus with an average maximal age of 22 years
- Finless porpoise with an average maximal age of 23 years
- Guianan squirrel monkey with an average maximal age of 27 years
- Collared mangabey with an average maximal age of 30 years
- Venezuelan red howler with an average maximal age of 25 years
- Olive baboon with an average maximal age of 25.17 years
- Kinkajou with an average maximal age of 29 years
- Red-bellied titi with an average maximal age of 25.25 years
- Red-tailed monkey with an average maximal age of 28.25 years