Cuteness overload: rescue cat and orphaned fur seal have to share their caretaker

This adorable rescue cat lives at a marine rescue center. He does his own things and doesn't interact with the other animals, but he's gotten very used to their presence, so he doesn't mind at all that, while he is peacefully sleeping on my lap, there is an orphaned fur seal suckling on my leg!Show more

This adorable South American Fur Seal (Arctocephalus australis) was separated from his mother at a younger age than he was supposed to and ended up at the beach, not doing too well, so he was taken to a marine rescue center, to receive proper care until he is ready to be released back into the ocean. Although marine animals don't usually like human contact and will bite if you try and pet them, he follows me around all day and feels the need to suckle my leg for comfort.

Although they have "seal" in the name, Fur Seals are actually more closely related to Sea Lions than to True Seals, belonging to the Otariidae family. Otariids are also known as "eared seals". Not only do they have external ear flaps, unlike true seals (Phocids), but they also have much larger flippers and can actually walk on land, instead of galumphing, like true seals.

There are nine species of Fur Seals in the world: the Antarctic Fur Seal (Arctocephalus gazella), the Brown Fur Seal (Arctocephalus pusillus), the Galapagos Fur Seal (Arctocephalus galapagoensis), the Guadalupe Fur Seal (Arctocephalus townsendi), the Juan Fernández Fur Seal (Arctocephalus philippii), the New Zealand Fur Seal (Arctocephalus forsteri), the South American Fur Seal (Arctocephalus australis), the Subantarctic Fur Seal (Arctocephalus tropicalis), and the Northern Fur Seal (Callorhinus ursinus). As you may have noticed, the Northern Fur Seal is the only extant member of its genus, with all other Fur Seal species belonging to the Arctocephalus genus.