Abstract
Southern sea lions were observed to prey on juvenile and adult female South American fur seals Arctocephalus australis at Punta San Juan. While both adult male and subadult male sea lions captured and killed fur seals, adult female and juvenile sea lions never acted aggressively towards fur seals. Adult males attacked fur seals on 82.4% of the occasions when they were present at the rookery, subadults on 52% of occasions. Motivation for attacks differed for subadults and adults, with subadult males using captured fur seals as female sea lion substitutes, guarding them from others and copulating with them, whilst adult sea lions hunted fur seals as food. However, only a small proportion of adult sea lions hunted fur seals, and with differing rates of success. -from Author
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1908-1911 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
| Volume | 71 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| Publication status | Published - 1993 |
| Externally published | Yes |