One city in New Zealand knows what its priorities are.
Dunedin, the second largest city on New Zealand’s South Island, has closed a popular road to protect a mother sea lion and her pup, The Guardian reported.
“We’ve closed John Wilson Ocean Drive to vehicles for the next month to allow some special residents to use the road safely – a New Zealand sea lion and her pup have taken up residence at the golf course next door and are regularly crossing the road to get to the beach,” the Dunedin City Council wrote in a Facebook Post Monday.
This is her fifth pup, Department of Conservation (DOC) coastal Otago biodiversity ranger Jim Fyfe said.
“She has come up John Wilson Drive and into the golf course to have her pup in some bushes there,” he told Radio New Zealand.
Fyfe also told the New Zealand Herald that the pup was born Thursday, Jan. 7 and immediately made its presence known by making lots of noise.
The mother and pup will now spend about a month nesting before heading out to sea, Fyfe explained. During that time, the mother will need to walk 500 meters (approximately 1,640 feet) to the beach each day to feed. On these journeys, she will think to avoid male sea lions, but she won’t be thinking about cars, people or dogs. That is why the road closure is so important, Fyfe explained.
Local residents have responded favorably to the council’s decision, The Guardian reported.
“Awesome! Love our little country in this way,” one commenter wrote on Facebook.
The golf course has also welcomed its new residents.
“We’re lucky to have marine mammals on our coastline and we need to share the space with them, as this is what makes our coastal Links and Dunedin’s coastline so unique!” it wrote in a Jan. 5 Facebook post.
