Fun Japanese Sea Lion Facts For Kids

The Japanese sea lion (Zalophus japonicus) belongs to the family Otariidae. They are somewhat similar to seals in living and other habits.

It was considered a subspecies of Californian sea lions but later was declared as a separate species. This species of sea lion went extinct in the '70s due to their decreasing population.

It was a member of the eared seal family and fur seals and other sea lions, but they are different from true seals since they have small eternal earflaps and hind flippers.

Pipe cleaners and leather were extracted from their skin and whiskers, bought for a penny each. They are predators and hunt for fish and squids as well.

Extinction is near for the Japanese sea lion in some countries. This sea animal did not have predators except humans, who killed them for their meat, skin, and oil, which has led to their near-extinction.

If you want to know more about other sea lion species, feel free to visit these sea lion and Steller sea lion pages.
 

Japanese Sea Lion Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a Japanese sea lion?

The Japanese sea lion is a type of sea lion or a marine mammal that is near to extinction. They reside in Japan, Korea, coastal areas, and the northwest pacific coastline.

What class of animal does a Japanese sea lion belong to?

Japanese sea lion belongs to class mammalia of phylum chordata.

How many Japanese sea lions are there in the world?

This animal has been listed as extinct.

Where does a Japanese sea lion live?

Japanese sea lions mostly live in Coastal areas, the Korean peninsula, northwest pacific coastline. They mainly range in countries like Japan and Korea. They live on the coasts of South America, Antarctica, southern Australia, Northern pacific between Asia and North America, and South western Africa.

What is a Japanese sea lion's habitat?

The Japanese sea lion habitat in the sea of Japan includes the Korean peninsula, Japanese archipelago coast. They were found in the yellow sea, the sea of Japan, and the Bohai sea and left the coast line of Japan.

Their bred habitat includes sandy beaches and rocky areas as they are marine animals. Seals and sea lions have some common habitat and areas where they live.

They can survive for almost two years in the open ocean. The feeding habitat includes food like fish, squid, octopus, and many more for their survival.

Who do Japanese sea lions live with?

Japanese sea lions usually live in groups or sometimes even alone and form colonies. When adult Japanese sea lion females and young ones molt, they all often come and live together. Comparatively, Californian sea lions stay together in the gulf year around and do not migrate.

How long does a Japanese sea lion live?

The Japanese sea lion lifespan is around 20-30 years in their own habitat.

How do they reproduce?

It is known that the breeding system of Japanese sea lions (Zalophus japonicus) and California sea lions (Zalophus Californianus) are the same.

They mate both in sandy beaches as well as rocky areas to rest in caves and more than  once a year. Females mainly initiate the courtship and copulation, and the courtship may last for minutes to hours, and the role of males is just to contribute sperms.

All other activities are taught to the baby sea lion by females.

When the female sea lion becomes pregnant, they come to the shore to mate again with a male sea lion. The gestation period for sea lions are around 11 months, and when the baby sea lion becomes a year old, it can weigh up to 200 lb (90.7 kg) in weight and 6 ft (1.8 m) in length.

The pups live with their mother, and after a year they are called as yearlings.

What is their conservation status?

The conservation status of Japanese sea lions is almost near to extinction as they were harvested extremely by the commercial fishermen in the 1900s.

Around 16,500 sea lions were harvested by the Japanese trawlers leading to their extinction, and habitat destruction was caused by submarine warfare during world war II. In the 20th century, the species of these Japanese sea lions were captured to make use in circuses.

In 1951, the was last credible documentation was around 50-60  animals or marine mammals, and at the same time, Caribbean monk seals were also recorded and went extinct.

Japanese Sea Lion Fun Facts

What do Japanese sea lions look like?

Japanese sea lion males are dark grey in color, and they weigh around 992-1254 lb (450-569 kg). The body length of these animals differ in both sexes. Males have a body size of 98.4 in (250 cm), whereas females reach up to 59 in (150 cm) in length.

These species of marine mammals became extinct in the 1900s. One or two sea lions must have been spotted on Moneron Island and Kuril island  in 1949. Japanese sea lions are aquatic animals and are bigger than Californian sea lions.

How cute are they?

The baby sea lion looked very cute and adorable. They have hairs on their body and are of light grey color. In some sense they resemble their mother also they have a layer of fur.

How do they communicate?

They communicated using different vocalizations, sometimes they bark and call the mother. They also grunt and growl. They can hear from a long distance with the help of ears and make noise when hunting for food in groups.

How big is a Japanese sea lion?

The Japanese sea lion differs in size. Males have a body length of 98.4 in (250 cm), where females are 59 in (150 cm) in length. They are 50 times bigger than Spanish mackerel.

How fast can a Japanese sea lion run?

These sea animals are slow on land, but while swimming, they have a good speed. However, their definite running speed is unknown.

How much does a Japanese sea lion weigh?

These sea animals can weigh up to 992-1254 lb (450-569 kg). However, females are smaller and weigh lesser than males.

What are the male and female names of the species?

No separate names have been used to describe each sex of the Japanese sea lion.

What would you call a baby Japanese sea lion?

A baby Japanese sea lion is called a pup.

What do they eat?

The Japanese sea lion diet includes food like fish, squid, anchovies, herring salmon and sardines. They also feed on octopus, and tear their food with their sharp teeth of around 34-38 in number.

Are they dangerous?

The Japanese sea lion population is not harmful to humans, but they are aquatic predators and feed on fish. They have sharp teeth and are unpredictable, therefore humans are advised not to keep them as a pet or try to feed or swim with them.

Would they make a good pet?

No, this species of sea lion would not make a good pet, and it is rare to raise them as pets since they prefer sea and island habitats with lots of fish in their diet. Their extinction also makes it difficult to raise them.

Did you know...

Oil was extracted from these sea lions, while pipe cleaners and leather goods were made out of their skin and whiskers.

Why did the Japanese sea lion split from the California sea lion?

Japanese sea lions were earlier considered as the subspecies of Californian sea lions, but later in the year 2003, it was declared as a different species also known as black sea lions. The color of Japanese sea lions is a bit darker than Californian sea lions.

Why did the Japanese sea lion go extinct?

The Japanese sea lion extinction took place in the 1900s because of the fishermen that harvested at the turn of the century. Soon the number of sea lions started decreasing and came to 300 in 1915, and a few left in 1930.

They were last recorded when a young sea lion was captured on the Rebun island because the submarine warfare caused huge destruction to this species of Japanese sea lions.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these Harp Seal and walrus pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Japanese sea lion coloring pages.