CALIFORNIA SEA LION*
Zalophus californianus (Lesson 1828)

Order Carnivora : Family Otariidae

*Introduced species

POPULATION STATUS. Feral, enigmatic. Occasionally, California sea lions have escaped from captivity and have been sighted in the Gulf of Mexico, but there are no established breeding populations.

CONSERVATION STATUS. The IUCN lists the California sea lion as a species of least concern, and it does not appear on any federal or state list.

 

From The Mammals of Texas, Seventh Edition by David J. Schmidly and Robert D. Bradley, copyright © 1994, 2004, 2016.  Courtesy of the University of Texas Press.