Sheltering New Zealand’s Sea Lion

One of the world’s rarest sea lions, with only around 12,000 individuals surviving, the New Zealand sea lion inhabits the sub-Antarctic islands of Aotearoa and Stewart island/Rakiura, with a small population returning to the mainland along the Otago coastline.

Campbell Island is home to the second largest breeding population of this marine mammal - a place of extreme weather events and low temperatures. With no cover from these rough conditions, pups are essentially exposed to the elements, and our conservation partners at the Department of Conservation were concerned when pup mortality reached as high as 81% in recent years.

To help solve this issue, DOC ran an ‘engineering challenge’ – asking for a design solution that would provide shelter for the pups, and could be transported and assembled with ease in a remote location. Our senior curator of mammals, Warren Spencer, jumped at the chance for a conservation collaboration that could make a direct impact for an endangered species in decline.

Directed by Benjamin Brooking
Edited by Juliana Machado