Sea lions are nationally endangered
The New Zealand sea lion (pakake or whakahao) is a protected species. Found only in New Zealand, they are a taonga for tangata whenua – a highly valued treasure for Māori.
Sea lions used to be common all around the coastline of New Zealand. But after they were hunted in the 1800s they almost became extinct. Only small breeding colonies remained on the subantarctic Auckland Islands and Campbell Island.
The sea lion population has been slowly recovering. They are now classified as "nationally endangered". Today, sea lions are breeding on Stewart Island and on the Otago and Southland coastlines.
Find out more about New Zealand sea lions – DOC
A plan to lift sea lion numbers
Our threat management plan was developed jointly with DOC. It was also developed with the help of tangata whenua, communities, environmental groups, and industry groups.
Sea lion threat management plan: 2017–2022 [PDF, 2.1 MB]
The plan aims to help sea lion populations recover. Our goal is for them to be classified as "not threatened".
To make sure sea lions are around for future generations, we're working with the DOC to manage threats such as:
- disease in breeding colonies on the Auckland Islands
- the direct effects of fishing (for example, sea lions can be caught in trawl nets)
- changes in food resources
- poor breeding habitat (for example, pups can drown in mudholes on the islands)
- deliberate killing of sea lions by people.
The threat management plan lists the work we are doing to learn more about these threats and how we can reduce them.
Find out about sea lions caught in trawl nets and how Fisheries New Zealand is trying to stop this
Who to contact
If you have questions about sea lions, email info@mpi.govt.nz
