Causes of Death in Two Populations of New Zealand Sea Lions
- Infectious disease
Abstract
The New Zealand sea lion is an endangered species endemic to New Zealand. While causes of death are well described for pups of this species, mortality in adults is poorly characterised. This study investigated causes of death in 136 New Zealand sea lions in two different populations: a major breeding site on remote, uninhabited Enderby Island in the sub-Antarctic, and a slowly increasing recolonising population on the inhabited mainland. For animals with at least a partial diagnostic investigation (n = 112), the most frequently diagnosed causes of mortality were infectious disease (41/112; 37%), particularly tuberculosis due to M. pinnipedii (20/112; 18%), and conspecific trauma (27/112; 24%). Anthropogenic trauma was an important cause of death in mainland sea lions (9/33; 26%). Deliberate anthropogenic mortality has previously been identified as the greatest potential threat to population recovery for mainland sea lions, and as human and pinniped populations increase, managing interactions between these species will become increasingly important.
Lenting, B., Gartrell, B., Kokosinska, A., Duignan, P.J., Michael, S., Hunter, S., Roe, W.D. 2019. Causes of adult mortality in two populations of New Zealand sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri). Animal and Veterinary Science 7: 10057. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vas.2019.100057
Pádraig Duignan
Meet The Experts
{"image":"\/People\/Portrait\/cropped-images\/Padraig Duignan-0-56-635-496-1601760621.jpg","alt":"Padraig Duignan","title":"P\u00e1draig Duignan","text":"Director of Pathology","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/person\/padraig-duignan","link_text":"Read Bio"}
Related Publications
{"image":"\/Animals\/Patients\/California sea lions\/csl-by-bill-hunnewell-c-the-marine-mammal-center-6.jpg","alt":"California sea lions","title":"Zoonotic Bacteria Persistence and Susceptibility","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/publications\/zoonotic-bacteria-persistence-and-susceptibility","label":"Research Paper"}
{"image":"\/Animals\/Patients\/California sea lions\/cropped-images\/csl-photo-by-bill-hunnewell-c-the-marine-mammal-center-1-0-0-2358-1722-1600891644.jpg","alt":"California sea lions","title":"Emerging Viruses in Marine Mammals","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/publications\/emerging-viruses-in-marine-mammals","label":"Research Paper"}
{"image":"\/Animals\/Patients\/California sea lions\/csl-photo-by-bill-hunnewell-c-the-marine-mammal-center-12.jpg","alt":"two California sea lions","title":"Multi-Phase Muscle Breakdown in California Sea Lions","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/publications\/multi-phase-muscle-breakdown-in-california-sea-lions","label":"Research Paper"}
{"image":"\/Animals\/Wild\/Other species\/nz-sea-lion-shutterstock.jpg","alt":"New Zealand sea lion","title":"Tuberculosis in New Zealand Seals, Sea Lions and Dolphins","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/publications\/tuberculosis-in-new-zealand-seals-sea-lions-and-dolphins","label":"Research Paper"}
Recent News
{"image":"\/Animals\/Patients\/California sea lions\/2024\/csl-autumn-photo-by-chris-deimler-c-the-marine-mammal-center.jpg","alt":"A California sea lion with a small satellite tag on its back walks on a rocky beach toward the ocean.","title":"From Treating Sick Sea Lions to Tracking Them in the Wild: Follow Autumn","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/news\/from-treating-sick-sea-lions-to-tracking-them-in-the-wild-follow-autumn","label":"Patient Update","date":"2025-02-27 15:23:46"}
From Treating Sick Sea Lions to Tracking Them in the Wild: Follow Autumn
February 27, 2025
Read More{"image":"\/Animals\/Patients\/California sea lions\/2024\/cropped-images\/csl-pinger-entanglement-photo-by-bill-hunnewell-c-the-marine-mammal-center-119-0-1270-992-1740529371.jpg","alt":"An entangled California sea lion with a netting material around its neck. ","title":"What it Takes to Rescue an Entangled Sea Lion","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/news\/what-it-takes-to-rescue-an-entangled-sea-lion","label":"News Update","date":"2025-02-27 02:00:00"}
{"image":"\/People\/Action\/Response\/cropped-images\/pygmy-sperm-whale-necropsy-pismo-beach-321-0-1270-992-1740076440.jpg","alt":"experts examining stranded pygmy sperm whale","title":"KMPH: Dead pygmy sperm whale washes ashore at Pismo Beach","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/news\/kmph-dead-pygmy-sperm-whale-washes-ashore-at-pismo-beach","label":"In the News","date":"2025-02-19 01:00:00"}
{"image":"\/Animals\/Wild\/Guadalupe fur seal\/cropped-images\/gfs-wild-photo-by-marc-webber-193-0-1270-992-1739906952.jpg","alt":"A Guadalupe fur seal floats in the water with its flippers raised. ","title":"Your Visual Guide to Sea Lion and Seal Behavior","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/news\/your-visual-guide-to-sea-lion-and-seal-behavior","label":"News Update","date":"2025-02-18 02:00:00"}
