Point Defiance welcomes new seal pup to family
Jun 3, 2013, 5:59 PM | Updated: 6:19 pm
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium welcomed a newborn, 23-pound seal pup to the family Sunday. (Point Defiance image)
(Point Defiance image)
Tacoma’s Point Defiance Zoo & Acquarium is celebrating a new addition to the family: A 23-pound Pacific harbor seal pup.
The zoo says the pup, a male, was born Sunday and is doing well and nursing.
The pup and new mom, 8-year-old Shila, are being kept in an off-exhibit space so they can bond and the baby can get enough blubber to regulate its own temperature.
Once that happens, they’ll make their public debut, zoo general curator Karen Goodrowe Beck said. It’ll likely be a couple of weeks.
A second harbor seal, 9-year-old Qilak, also is expecting, and her delivery could
occur any day, Goodrowe Beck said.
The pups’ father is Q, a 14-year-old male, who spent about 14 months at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium on a breeding loan from Seattle Aquarium. He returned to Seattle two weeks ago to be one of the stars in that aquarium’s new harbor seal exhibit, said Point Defiance in a statement.
Male harbor seals can grow from 150 to 375 pounds and 5 to 6 feet long; females generally weigh between 100 and 300 pounds and are 4 to 5 feet long.
