Lobo Marino

Description:

They are dark brown when they are adults and black when they are young. Adult males usually weigh about 300 kg, twice the females, and have a layer of reddish brown hair on the neck. This 'mane' is the cause of their being called 'sea lions'. They live in colonies of about 15 individuals, formed by the male, its harem, and a few young people. During the summer, in December and January, they go to live at protected sites where thousands of animals congregate. The gestation lasts almost a year, giving birth to a single baby. During the breeding season, males enter into combat for control of their territory and for females, and it is usual that they do not feed during that period. They live between 25 and 50 years.

Habitat:

It inhabits the coasts of the southern half of South America. In the Pacific it is on the coasts of Peru and Chile; Occasionally there have been wandering specimens in the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), Colombia, and Panama. In the Atlantic it inhabits from Recife two Tôrres in Brazil to the south, in the coast of Uruguay, and the coasts of the Argentine sea, as much in the Argentine Patagonia as in the Malvinas Islands.