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Animal Age

How old does a California sea lion get? (age expectancy)

What is the maximal age a California sea lion reaches?

An adult California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) usually gets as old as 30 years.

California sea lions are around 349 days in the womb of their mother. When born, they weight 6.34 kg (13.99 lbs) and measure 11.1 cm (0′ 5″). As a member of the Otariidae family (genus: Zalophus), their offspring is 1 babies per pregnancy. Fully grown, they reach a bodylength of 2.02 meter (6′ 8″).

As a reference: Usually, humans get as old as 100 years, with the average being around 75 years. After being carried in the belly of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks), they grow to an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) and weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual.

A California sea lion gets as old as 30 years

The California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) is a coastal eared seal native to western North America. It is one of six species of sea lion. Its natural habitat ranges from southeast Alaska to central Mexico, including the Gulf of California. Sea lions are sexually dimorphic; males are larger than females, and have a thicker neck, and protruding sagittal crest. They mainly haul-out on sandy or rocky beaches, but they also frequent manmade environments such as marinas and wharves. Sea lions feed on a number of species of fish and squid, and are preyed on by killer whales and great white sharks.California sea lions have a polygynous breeding pattern. From May to August, males establish territories and try to attract females with which to mate. Females are free to move in between territories, and are not coerced by males. Mothers nurse their pups in between foraging trips. Sea lions communicate with numerous vocalizations, notably with barks and mother-pup contact calls. Outside their breeding season, sea lions spend much of their time at sea, but they come to shore to molt.Sea lions are particularly intelligent, can be trained to perform various tasks and display limited fear of humans if accustomed to them. Because of this, California sea lions are a popular choice for public display in zoos, circuses and oceanariums, and are trained by the United States Navy for certain military operations. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the species as Least Concern due to its abundance. To protect fish, the US states of Oregon and Washington engage in annual kill quotas of sea lions.

Animals of the same family as a California sea lion

Not really brothers and sisters, but from the same biological family (Otariidae):

Animals that reach the same age as California sea lion

With an average age of 30 years, California sea lion are in good companionship of the following animals:

Animals with the same number of babies California sea lion

The same number of babies at once (1) are born by:

Weighting as much as California sea lion

A fully grown California sea lion reaches around 137.6 kg (303.35 lbs). So do these animals:

Animals as big as a California sea lion

Those animals grow as big as a California sea lion: