A sea lion which terrorised a camper by tearing his tent with its teeth over the weekend was probably being "boisterous rather than aggressive'', a University of Otago zoologist says.
The incident was reported on social media and on Stuff, a man saying he was camping at Slope Point in the Catlins when the sea lion "attacked'' his tent.
Associate Prof Bruce Robertson suspected the sea lion would have been young and male, and curious rather than having any malign intent.
"I have had young males regularly want to play with me when I was doing field work on sea lions in the New Zealand subants [Subantarctic Islands].
"They can seem quite intimidating, as they lead with their mouth and teeth, but it is all bluster.''
He had had encounters with playful sea lions, including a young male which kept chasing him and his students.
If a sea lion started chasing you, the key was not to run away, and it helped to put something, such as a backpack, between yourself and the sea lion.
"If you become uninteresting, they go off and do something else.''
He had never heard of someone being injured by a sea lion after being chased, but said university researchers had to be prepared for being bitten, such as when they were handling pups when their mother was nearby.
There had been other instances of playful sea lions in the Catlins causing issues - at the Curio Bay campground they would wait in the flaxes and among the tents for unsuspecting campers.
The ones that would come up to people were usually juvenile males, who saw them as a "play item''.
It was best to keep a distance of about 10m between you and the sea lion, if possible.
The man said on a community Facebook page he was "attacked in my tent while asleep by a medium-sized sea lion'' while camped about 30m from the shore.
"I woke up to heavy breathing circling my tent. Then suddenly these sharp teeth started tearing my tent, shredding the side open.
"It then proceeded to lunge at me, biting my sleeping bag, trying to get at my legs and waist.''
He reached his car, the sea lion following him, and said it "continued to charge at the car and show me who was boss for another 10 mins. I slept in the car that night'' .
