Galapagos Islands Animals
Galapagos Islands animals, in terms of native mammals, include a very small group. Only the sea lions, bats and rats are native to the Galapagos Islands, with all other species having been brought here by humans. In fact, the mammals introduced by humans pose a threat to the native Galapagos Islands animals. These threats are dogs, cats, certain rats, and pigs. Let's take a look at the native Galapagos Islands animals.Sea Lions
We'd have to say that Sea Lions are the most famous of all the Galapagos Islands animals. Similar to Sea Lions in California, the Galapagos Islands sea lions are smaller. They are found all oave the Galapagos Islands, and love to lay about on the lava rocks on shore, taking in all the sun. Males are territorial and polygamous. You can tell a male from a female by the hump on his head, plus they are larger. Galapagos Islands sea lions mate in the water and give birth on land.Galapagos Islands sea lions eat sardines. They can dive amazing depths to get the sardines, up to 150 feet at a time. They play with marine iguanas in the water, like the iguanas are balls. They also like to surf the waves, which makes a funny spectacle. They Sea Lions have suffered from a pox since the 1970s, a virus that has killed half of them.
Fur Sea Lsions
Fur Sea Lions are one of the types of Galapagos Islands animals that is endemic to the islands. They came here on the Humboldt Current from South America and were hunted almost to extinction in the early twentieth century. Whalers wanted their skins. There are about 35,000 of them left today in the Galapagos Islands.Fur Sea Lions also dive for food, but not as deep as the Sea Lions. They eat squid and small fish. They like shade, and will lay about in the cracks in the lava or under rocks.
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