Problems and behavioral correction when mating in captive breeding in South American Sea lions

In marine mammal holding centers, breeding of kept animals is a serious problem. In pinnipeds, the sexual cycle is seasonal. Before mating, males enter into a tournament relationship, which is unacceptable in artificial conditions due to animal injuries. In a group of South American sea lions belonging to Moskvarium the Center for Oceanography and Marine Biology (Moscow), captive conditions led to changes in behavior, the acquisition of conditioned reflexes that negatively affected the reproductive function - the occurrence of artificially acquired infertility. When trying to combine male sea lions with females, it was not possible to obtain full-fledged sexual intercourse. The male had no play behavior, the slightest external stimulus, and he retreated, the females avoided him. This reaction is caused by keeping with a dominant male and reinforcing sexual behavior in relation to objects that enrich the environment. In 2019, the behavior of the male was corrected - it took more than 700 approaches, an indifferent attitude to extraneous stimuli was formed by imposing a conditioned signal. The increase in his sexual arousal was caused by a 1.5-fold increase in the feeding rate, imitation of tournament relations (plastic circles and the approach of a person). In females, by correcting the conditions of detention (length of daylight hours, level of feeding, temperature and rise in the water level in the enclosure), sexual arousal was achieved. By suppressing the negative acquired behavioral reflexes in the male and modulating the conditions of keeping female sea lions, sexual behavior was corrected and the process of active mating in artificial conditions was obtained.