Photos: A Grey Seal Pup Is Brookfield Zoo's First Birth Of 2014

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 3, 2014 9:30PM

Brookfield Zoo welcomed its first birth of 2014 with the arrival of a grey seal pup born 7 a.m. New Years Day that also happens to be the first of its species born at the zoo. The pup weighed 25 pounds a the time of birth and its weight is expected to quadruple in the next month.

The pup and its mother, 10-year-old Lily, are bonding with each other and have been removed from Brookfield Zoo's seal exhibit for the time being. The long white fur grey seal pups are born with will molt in two to four weeks and be replaced with the stiffer, shorter hair the adult seals sport. The Chicago Zoological Society has set up a web page that will feature updated photos of the seal's growth and, hopefully, when it molts.