They're not called sea horses or sea cows or even sea bulldogs. They're called sea lions and for a very good reason. And how does a trainer get the cooperation of an animal that weighs 250 pounds, has the teeth of a shark, the jaws of a bear and can easily out-muscle five men?

"You have to be nice to them," said Emil Popescu, sea lion trainer with the Royal Palace Circus, which gave two shows at the A.C. Brase Arena Building in Cape Girardeau Sunday. "They each have their own personalities. They can be sentimental and jealous."

Popescu commands his sea lions Gypse, Alliscia and Mine in French. He cajoles them with kisses, vigorous rubs behind the ear, a pat on the flank and buckets of fish. He said his control of the lions goes just so far.

"If they're not having fun they won't do it," he said. "If they don't want to perform they'll just lie down, and no matter what you do there is no way you're going to get them to move."

Popescu said sea lions were named that because the males of the species, which grow to about 1,000 pounds, have shaggy manes like a lion. Gypse, Alliscia and Mine, which are 8- and 9-year-old females, looked nothing like lions as they relaxed in the sun, stretched out on the floor of their pen before Sunday's first show. When they are wet their fur turns black and looks remarkably like a diver's wet suit. As they dry the fur becomes shaggy and brown.

Popescu travels all over the world with his three lions. He is able to transport them by air, but only on 747s which have a large enough cargo hold. He takes them across the U.S. by rail or in their special trailer hauled by truck. He said they don't mind traveling, and that the only real down-side to owning sea lions is finding a veterinarian who can treat them.

"You can't just take them to a regular vet and say, 'I've got a sick sea lion, what can you do for her,'" he said. "You have to find a specialist and sometimes you have to fly them in."

Popescu said he has had to learn to treat his animals' medical problems out of necessity. He added that treating them carefully at all times is the best kind of preventative medicine.

"Anything is fragile if it is not treated right," he said, adding that sea lions usually live 25 to 30 years. "I get asked a lot, How long will they perform? And I always tell them it depends on how you treat them."

The Royal Palace Circus made its only stop in Cape Girardeau this weekend as it makes its way slowly back to Florida. The circus is based in Sarasota and has been on the road since February.

The first show at Arena Park drew in about 200 people. Besides Popescu's Sea Lions, the circus featured a dog show, a black panther and a 22-foot, 200-pound boa constrictor.