Say hello to the newest gray seal pup at Smithsonian's National Zoo!
The female seal, born on Jan. 21, is the third pup to mother Kara and 26-year-old father Gunther, the zoo said. The pup weighed 34 pounds as of Jan. 24, and staff are "cautiously optimistic that the pup will thrive."
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"Around three weeks of age, the pup will wean and shed her white lanugo coat, revealing a gray and mottled pattern similar to that of the adults," the zoo said. "Once she is weaned, keepers will slowly introduce the new pup to the other members of the colony. She will join the zoo's adult gray seals and two harbor seals, Luke and Squeegee, on exhibit and public view in the spring."
The Washington Post said that the seal pup does not yet have a name.
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"Although once endangered, gray seals are now listed as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature," the zoo said. "In the wild, gray seals range from North America to the Baltic Sea."
The Smithsonian's National Zoo welcomed a gray seal pup on Jan. 21. (Jacqueline Conrad, Smithsonian's National Zoo)