Two of the sea lions are California sea lions: Zoey, who is 21 years old, and Gesi, the youngest of the bunch at 2 years old.
Kitty, the bigger sea lion, is 20 years old and a South American sea lion.
The show is back for a second time at the fair.
Trainers Ivo Silva, his wife Natalia Silva and Nelson Garcia work with the sea lions. Most of their days are filled with practicing and doing shows. For the Clark County fair, the shows are 5, 7 and 9 p.m. during the week.
Ivo Silva explained the sea lions enjoy the schedule because doing the show feels like practice. They prepare their shows at their home base in Texas.
“When we’re there, we take care of them all day, and practice with each one,” he said, “From there we have the show ready.”
Ivo Silva, the former cirque de soleil flying trapeze artist, has worked with the sea lions for 8 years now. He explained that each day with the sea lions is different.
“It depends on the day, you have to feel them. We don’t force them to do anything,” he said. “... sometimes they have more energy or play more, or sometimes they only want to play a little bit, and we understand that.”
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Each sea lion has its own personality. Ivo Silva explained the care for each of them is different.
“They are so different because Kitty is a South American sea lion, very different from the other two California sea lions personality wise,” he said.
“I have such a great relationship with all of the sea lions, you find different things everyday with working with the sea lions.”
The audience never disappoints when it comes to watching the animals perform as the county fair bleachers are filled.
“Every show is to make people happy, and it’s exciting to see them so excited to see the sea lions,” Ilo Silva said.
The sea lions will be at the Clark County Fair daily until the fair closes on Friday.
General admission tickets to the fair are $8 each, which includes the sea lion show. Children ages 5 and under are admitted free and on Wednesday, Kid’s Day, children ages 10 and under are free. Agricultural and privilege passes are available at the fair office and cost $30 each for the week. Passes can be used to enter the agriculture side of the fair.
For more information visit clarkcoag.com.
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