{"id":450505,"date":"2026-05-29T04:13:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T04:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/450505\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T04:13:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T04:13:09","slug":"new-zealand-sea-lion-pup-hit-and-killed-by-vehicle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/450505\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand sea lion pup hit and killed by vehicle"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Department of Conservation has called on drivers to be vigilant after a native pakake pup was found dead on Hoopers Inlet Road in Dunedin. <\/p>\n

The 5-month-old pup was discovered in a ditch with signs of blunt force trauma, which DOC Coastal Otago biodiversity ranger Moss Thompson said was caused by a vehicle.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the location, the type of injury, and the presence of some car undercarriage on the road, we are confident this death was a result from a vehicle collision.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the second sea lion pup to be killed this month, with another having been struck last week.<\/p>\n

Hoopers Inlet was known for its pakake presence, as they used the area during the cooler months to raise their young. <\/p>\n

\"It<\/p>\n

It is pukake season in Otago, where the sea lions gather over the winter months (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

Fencing, reduced speeds and signage have already been installed along the road to protect the pakake pups, however it was still not enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cOtago is one of the only places where pakake are increasing in numbers, with the main populations in the New Zealand subantarctic facing serious declines. Everyone has a part to play in supporting this iconic taoka species\u2019 return to the mainland. Keeping a cautious eye out when driving in coastal areas is something we can all do,\u201d says Thompson.<\/p>\n

DOC urged motorists to report any sea lion incidents if or when they happened to the NZ Police or Department of Conservation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you accidentally, or incidentally, harm a sea lion, or other marine mammal, you are legally required to report it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you hit, or think you hit a sea lion, please report it as soon as possible by calling 0800DOCHOT.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Department of Conservation has called on drivers to be vigilant after a native pakake pup was found…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":450506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[50,1080,273,111,139,69,147,406],"class_list":["post-450505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-animals","tag-dunedin-otago","tag-environment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}