Department of Conservation biodiversity ranger Jim Fyfe said he expected the first pup of this summer’s breeding season would have already been born along Dunedin’s coastline.
And with 34 breeding-age females in the area about 25 pups were expected over the next four weeks from Warrington to Brighton.
However, over the past few weeks, there had been at least six pregnant females on, or very near, roads in areas such as Otago Peninsula, Taieri Mouth and Brighton, and in John Wilson Ocean Dr, Mr Fyfe said.
As the number of breeding females rose in Dunedin, so too did the number of males on beaches looking for females.
These animals were in a very important part of their life cycle and did not realise they were putting themselves in danger by being so close to roads.
"It has been a particular feature this season, that we’ve been seeing these pregnant females really pushed inland and up against roads, or on to roads and across roads," Mr Fyfe said.
Down at New Zealand’s subantarctic islands it was not uncommon to see sea lions kilometres from the coastline and at elevations of 400m to 500m above sea level.
And as the Dunedin population had grown over the past 30 years it seemed to have hit a tipping point and female sea lions were coming further ashore. He urged people to share coastal spaces with the endemic mammals.
