Zoo authorities report that a grey seal, discovered stranded and sightless over a decade ago on a Maine island, has recently delivered a pup at a zoo in the Chicago area, demonstrating remarkable maternal care and attentiveness to her newborn.
In Brookfield, Illinois, a grey seal, initially found stranded and sightless over ten years ago on a Maine island, has recently given birth at a Chicago-area zoo, demonstrating exceptional maternal instincts towards her newborn, according to zoo officials on Friday.
The 11-year-old seal named “Georgie” delivered a nearly 35-pound (15.9-kilogram) male pup on Feb. 17 at the Brookfield Zoo. During his first week, he gained 15 pounds (6.8 kilograms) while nourishing himself on his mother’s highly nutritious milk and honing his swimming abilities in a pool, the officials reported.
Georgie was discovered stranded on an island in Georgetown, Maine, near the Atlantic Ocean, in 2013. It was subsequently determined that she was blind in her left eye and functionally blind in her right. Due to her visual impairment, authorities from the National Marine Fisheries Service concluded that releasing her back into the wild was not feasible. In 2020, she found a home at the Brookfield Zoo, located west of downtown Chicago.
Despite her vision loss, Georgie exhibits exemplary care for her offspring, proving to be “a very attentive mother,” stated Mark Gonka, the zoo’s associate director of marine mammal care and conservation.
“Grey seals have a keen sense of smell as well as a repertoire of vocalizations. Georgie is able to locate her pup by his distinct smell and call,” Gonka explained in a statement.
Like Georgie, the pup’s father, a 23-year-old grey seal named Kiinaq, was also found stranded in the wild and deemed unsuitable for release when he was just a few months old.
The birth of the newborn pup, resulting from two parents of wild descent, contributes to the genetic diversity of the grey seal population in accredited North American zoos and aquariums, as highlighted by the Brookfield Zoo.
Grey seals face numerous threats, including entanglement in fishing gear, illegal hunting, chemical contaminants, and climate change, according to the zoo.