ABSTRACT
Seals and sea lions are among the marine mammals most commonly maintained in display facilities and most commonly rehabilitated after stranding. The biology, natural history, physiology, and ecology of pinnipeds are reviewed by Riedman (1990) and Reynolds and Rommel (1999). As veterinarians take an increasing interest in the management of marine mammals, information on their special care and medicine is developing rapidly. Most of the medicine presented here has been learned from care of the commonly stranded and displayed species of pinnipeds, particularly the California sea lion (
Zalophus californianus
) and the harbor seal (
Phoca vitulina
). Disease problems may be very different in some of the less accessible species, and in wild animals on rookeries, from those in these two species.
