It is hard to guess what a South American fur seal weights. But we have the answer:
An adult South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis) on average weights 68.14 kg (150.22 lbs).
The South American fur seal is from the family Otariidae (genus: Arctocephalus). It is usually born with about 4.45 kg (9.81 lbs). They can live for up to 21 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 1.65 meter (5′ 6″). Usually, South American fur seals have 1 babies per litter.
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 South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis) breeds on the coasts of Peru, Chile, the Falkland Islands, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. The total population is around 250,000. However, population counts are sparse and outdated. Although Uruguay has long been considered to be the largest population of South American fur seals, recent census data indicates that the largest breeding population of A. a. australis (that breeds in Chile, Falklands, Argentina, Uruguay) are at the Falkland Islands (estimated pup abundance ~36,000) followed by Uruguay (pup abundance ~31,000) . The population of South American fur seals in 1999 was estimated at 390,000, a drop from a 1987 estimate of 500,000 – however a paucity of population data, combined with inconsistent census methods, makes it difficult to interpret global population trends.
Animals of the same family as a South American fur seal
We found other animals of the Otariidae family:
- Juan Fernández fur seal bringing 95 kilos (209.44 lbs) to the scale
- Australian sea lion bringing 189.14 kilos (416.98 lbs) to the scale
- Guadalupe fur seal bringing 101.03 kilos (222.73 lbs) to the scale
- Galápagos fur seal bringing 39.47 kilos (87.02 lbs) to the scale
- Brown fur seal bringing 178.75 kilos (394.08 lbs) to the scale
- California sea lion bringing 137.6 kilos (303.36 lbs) to the scale
- Antarctic fur seal bringing 96.6 kilos (212.97 lbs) to the scale
- Subantarctic fur seal bringing 92.21 kilos (203.29 lbs) to the scale
- Steller sea lion bringing 383.23 kilos (844.88 lbs) to the scale
- South American sea lion bringing 193.67 kilos (426.97 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a South American fur seal
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Arctocephalus australis:
- Grant’s gazelle with a weight of 55.46 kilos (122.27 lbs)
- Caspian seal with a weight of 62.33 kilos (137.41 lbs)
- Fallow deer with a weight of 56.71 kilos (125.02 lbs)
- Persian fallow deer with a weight of 74.4 kilos (164.02 lbs)
- Commerson’s dolphin with a weight of 72.4 kilos (159.61 lbs)
- Dama gazelle with a weight of 71.42 kilos (157.45 lbs)
- Homo sapiens with a weight of 58.62 kilos (129.23 lbs)
- South Andean deer with a weight of 69.02 kilos (152.16 lbs)
- Sitatunga with a weight of 75.28 kilos (165.96 lbs)
- Iberian ibex with a weight of 60.55 kilos (133.49 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a South American fur seal
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as South American fur seal:
- Giant panda with a size of 1.35 meter (4′ 6″)
- Western gorilla with a size of 1.6 meter (5′ 3″)
- Spectacled bear with a size of 1.77 meter (5′ 10″)
- Cheetah with a size of 1.48 meter (4′ 11″)
- Asian elephant with a size of 1.92 meter (6′ 4″)
- Sea otter with a size of 1.44 meter (4′ 9″)
- Anoa with a size of 1.58 meter (5′ 3″)
- Marsh deer with a size of 1.72 meter (5′ 8″)
- Grant’s gazelle with a size of 1.53 meter (5′ 1″)
- Caspian seal with a size of 1.41 meter (4′ 8″)
Animals with the same litter size as a South American fur seal
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a South American fur seal:
- Banteng
- Sugar glider
- Four-toed elephant shrew
- Smoky pocket gopher
- Herbert River ringtail possum
- South Andean deer
- Blackish deer mouse
- Sangihe tarsier
- Fox’s shrew
- Hoffmann’s rat
Animals with the same life expectancy as a South American fur seal
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a South American fur seal:
- Chinese goral with an average maximal age of 17.25 years
- Straw-coloured fruit bat with an average maximal age of 21.75 years
- Sitatunga with an average maximal age of 21.5 years
- Yellow-backed duiker with an average maximal age of 17.25 years
- Himalayan tahr with an average maximal age of 21.75 years
- Galápagos fur seal with an average maximal age of 22 years
- Verreaux’s sifaka with an average maximal age of 20.58 years
- Golden lion tamarin with an average maximal age of 24.75 years
- White-lipped peccary with an average maximal age of 21 years
- Northern elephant seal with an average maximal age of 20.25 years