BIRTH TO WEANING - PARTURITION, DURATION OF LACTATION, AND ATTENDANCECYCLES OF AUSTRALIAN SEA LIONS (NEOPHOCA-CINEREA)

Parturition, time to weaning, and female attendance patterns were stud ied over four breeding seasons in Australian sea lions, Neophoca ciner ea, on Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Females generally exhibited s ite fidelity in their choice of birth sites, and arrived a mean of 1.8 days prior to birth. After birth, females stayed ashore a mean of 9.8 days before departing on their first foraging trip. Trips to sea were about 48 h in length although there was significant variation over ti me. Stays ashore were about 33 h long and were much less varied than t rips to sea. Females moved pups away from the natal areas after about 1 month, and began spending less time with them while they were ashore . Linked with the extended breeding cycle of 17.6 months was an equall y long period of maternal investment. Females suckled their pups for 1 5-18 months, or until about 1 month before the next birth. Twenty-nine percent of females did not pup consecutively each breeding season, bu t continued to suckle their offspring until the next birth, some for a s long as 40 months.