Visit the town where sea lions roam freely

Hannah Yeardley, 17, lives in Dunedin, New Zealand, like many other young people in this town, often works as a ‘babysitter’ in her spare time. The only special feature that must be mentioned is the sea lions.

The time from December to February every year is the breeding season of sea lions, the young at this stage and the next few months are very vulnerable and need care.

Hannah Yeardley often walks along the beach to check out sea lion nests. Hannah Yeardley’s favorite sea lion is called Zoe, a female her age.

Lionesses often head inland to nest, but this also brings them closer to potential threats from humans. Fortunately, the locals in this town are all familiar with them.

Yeardley is one of the people on duty to manage, protect and limit potential threats when sea lions come inland. However, according to Yeardley, one of the simplest solutions to protect sea lions is to educate, raise people’s awareness, and how to deal with them.

Sea lion lying on an abandoned sofa in town

Jim Fyfe, New Zealand Department of Conservation, said: “If you see a sea lion, you shouldn’t run away. They won’t attack or bite you. 99 out of 100 close contacts indicate they will stop only on the side. next to you and sniff.

So your duty is to try to keep calm and keep moving close out of the area, People don’t need to panic, they are not aggressive animals. They are happy, quite curious.”

Sea lions once thrived along the coasts of New Zealand, but by the early 19th century and into the mid-20th century, increased hunting caused the number of this species to plummet, almost becoming extinct in the area. area.

Sea lions standing by the road waiting for cars to pass

Remaining populations inhabit the south on islands near Antarctica such as the Auckland Islands and Campbell Island.

In the early 1990s, a female sea lion made the adventure of moving inland and giving birth to a young on St Clair’s beach. It was from here that the sea lion population began to return to Otago. By 2010, between 18 and 20 sea lion cubs had been born here, increasing the population of the species in the area.