Buddy the sea lion may be blind but he has a voice that can be heard throughout the 133-acre Los Angeles Zoo.
The zoo welcomed the 700lbs blind California sea lion in May and since then he has adapted well to his new life at the Sea Cliffs exhibit.
‘Buddy has definitely brought a new sense of excitement to Sea Life Cliffs,’ Jennifer Kuypers, a senior animal keeper at Los Angeles Zoo said.
Buddy, a 10-year-old sea lion was taken in by Los Angeles Zoo after 10 months at the Marine Mammal Care Center in Los Angeles
‘Being from the wild, he came to us without any trained behaviors, and as we work with him we’re learning about him as an individual,’ Jennifer told Los Angeles Daily News.
It had been eight years since a California sea lion had been with Los Angeles Zoo. However, Buddy was the second rescued animal off the coast of California that has been added to the Sea Cliffs exhibit within the last year.
Ziggy, an 18-month old female Pacific harbor seal, was brought to the zoo in November and was rehabilitated by the Pacific Marine Mammal Center.
When Buddy was rescued, the 10-year-old marine mammal was malnourished, skeletal, blind and unable to hunt or defend himself.
Loud and proud: The audible seal can be heard throughout the 133-acre zoo
Before he was rescued, Buddy was malnourished and abnormally thin because he couldn’t hunt or defend for himself
He was rescued at Manhattan Beach in July 2016 and brought to the Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles.
He was rehabilitated for 10 months but could not be released due to his injuries and blindness, so the zoo took him in.
Jeff Cozad, executive director of the Marine Mammal Care Center Los Angeles, told Los Angeles Daily News that Los Angeles Zoo felt Buddy would be a perfect fit for their facility.
‘We couldn’t be happier that he was placed locally where Marine Mammal Care Center LA visitors and volunteers can still visit him often,’ he said.
Buddy lives with several harbor seals but the zoo expects more sea lions.
Buddy’s home, pictured above, the Los Angeles Zoo