A Fur Seal Pup is Born at Prague Zoo
25. 06. 2026
Suckling, sleeping and growing stronger: after a full seven years, a Cape fur seal pup is being raised at Prague Zoo. The young male was born to female Daisy on 5 June. Although she began caring for her first offspring immediately, she initially did not have enough milk, so keepers had to introduce supplementary feeding. Now, however, the zoo can be cautiously optimistic: lactation is fully established, and the great-grandson of the legendary Gaston has even begun to play.
The pup was born on 5 June—the same day as his grandmother, the well-known female Abeba. Photo: Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo
“A few days before giving birth, Daisy started lying down and resting more,” says Jakub Mezei, head keeper of fur seals at Prague Zoo. “She delivered in the off-exhibit area in just eleven minutes, in the company of another female, which is natural for these pinnipeds.”
Due to the lack of milk, the pup was given a special formula twice a day, primarily made from cream and fish muscle. “The aim was to give the female time to begin producing milk while preventing the pup from weakening. Regular weighing then showed that the pup was slowly gaining weight. The rearing process is still at an early stage, but everything seems to be on the right track,” explains Antonín Vaidl, curator of birds and pinnipeds at Prague Zoo.
“Daisy is becoming more confident in her role. If the pup cannot find a teat, she can gently guide him with her flipper so that he can feed easily,” adds Mezei. Fur seals, carnivorans distantly related to bears, are born on land and only learn to swim later. Keepers will soon begin introducing the three-week-old male to a shallow tub; visitors should be able to see him in the exhibit pool around mid-August.
Cape fur seal females are pregnant for twelve months. Mating took place shortly before the departure of Eda. Daisy, usually shy and timid, is surprisingly calm and allows keepers to feed her even in the presence of her pup. Photo: Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo
The father of the new addition is the Prague-born male Eda, who left for Rostock Zoo in Germany last year as part of a genetic exchange. As Prague Zoo has been highly successful in breeding, it would have been very difficult to find additional unrelated females for Eda. Since last year, Prague Zoo has therefore been home to an adolescent male, Oslo, originally from Pairi Daiza in Belgium, who is expected to sire future pups.
Prague Zoo currently keeps five fur seals: the male Oslo, and females Abeba, Ronja, and Daisy with her pup.
Prague Zoo has kept eared seals, with short interruptions, since 1934, when it received the first representatives of this group—California sea lions—as a gift from the famous Czech actor Vlasta Burian. South African fur seals have been kept continuously since 1991. Photo: Petr Hamerník, Prague Zoo
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