Months later, El Paso Zoo’s sea lion demonstrations still on hold after aggressive behavior

People visiting the El Paso Zoo have had to miss out on the sea lion demonstrations since last summer because of aggressive behavior during mating season.

“One of the most popular things that we offer at the El Paso Zoo has always been the sea lion program, especially because sunny has been an iconic member of this community,” said zoo director Steve Marshall. “But we got a new male and we introduced him to Sushi, our female, and sea lions go through a seasonal mating period like deer and rut. And this new male was especially aggressive.”

That aggressiveness resulted in the male biting Sushi. It was a minor injury, according to zoo officials but led them to stop the demonstrations and keep them separate.

There is no time table for when the demonstrations will return.

“We’re still working on that,” Marshall said. “Animal welfare is the most important thing. At the zoo it’s our highest priority. So we’re not going to force two animals together that are having a little bit of social trouble. So as soon as we slowly re-introduce them and then we’ll probably re-introduce the sea lion demonstration program.