Beloved Sea Lion At Milwaukee Zoo’s Oceans Of Fun Dies

MILWAUKEE, MI — Slick, a 30-year-old sea lion at the Milwaukee County Zoo, has died, zoo officials announced. He was believed to have been the oldest living California sea lion in human care, and lived far longer than 8-12 years he would have been expected to survive in the wild.

Slick, who a star of the Oceans of Fun Seal and Sea Lion Show at the zoo, died Friday of natural causes, the zoo said Tuesday. He had lived at the zoo since he was 5 and was known among the staff at the Oceans of Fun exhibit as playful and affectionate, often giving kisses to his human caretakers and inviting backrubs.

His death came as a surprise to the staff, as he was active and playful on Thursday. But a necropsy, the animal equivalent of an autopsy, showed nothing unusual, Shelley Ballmann, president of Oceans of Fun, said.

“It was his time to go,” Ballmann told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The dominant male at the zoo, he sired eight pups during his 26 years at the zoo and led the colony of sea lions “very firmly and very gently,” Ballmann said, noting that Slick was a “very special” and “remarkable” animal.

The zoo held a big celebration last year to mark his milestone birthday.

At the time, Ballmann said he was “a true ambassador for marine mammals in the wild, and a real testament to the excellent life that zoos and aquariums can offer animals of all kinds,” according to a story on the zoo’s website.

Many people fondly remembered the sea lion on Facebook.

Photo via Facebook, used with permission