PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The animal family at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium recently got a little bigger.

The Zoo announced that Zoey gave birth to a female sea lion pup in a press release Friday morning.

“Zoey and her pup are vocalizing and the pup is nursing, which is a very important part of the pup’s development,” Zoo President and CEO Dr. Barbara Baker said.

The baby pup weighed in at 18.4 pounds, which is a healthy weight and she will learn to swim in the coming weeks.

“At first Zoey was very protective of the baby,” Curator of Kids Kingdom and Reptiles Henry Kacprzyk said. “But after a couple of days, Zoey relaxed enough to let the other sea lion members near the pup. Especially curious were Sidney and Sophie, another young sea lion, who kept trying to get close to the pup and were chased away by mom.”

The Zoo is also anxiously awaiting the birth of sea lion Maggie’s second pup, which is expected any day now.

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