New Zealand fur seal
| New Zealand fur seal | ||||||||||||
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New Zealand fur seals |
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| Arctocephalus forsteri | ||||||||||||
| ( Lesson , 1828) |
The New Zealand fur seal ( Arctocephalus forsteri ) is also known as the Australian fur seal , but this can lead to confusion with a subspecies of the South African fur seal . It belongs to the genus of the southern fur seals .
features
The color of the New Zealand fur seal is gray-brown. Males also have a black neck mane. Bulls reach a height of 250 cm and a weight of 180 kg. Cows are much smaller at 150 cm and 70 kg.
distribution
The New Zealand fur seal lives today mainly on the coasts of the South Island of New Zealand as well as on the coasts of South and Western Australia . There are other colonies on the sub-Antarctic Antipode Islands , the Auckland Islands , the Bounty Islands , the Chatham Islands and the Campbell Island . Several hundred fur seals also live on the south coast of Tasmania .
New Zealand fur seals migrate outside of the mating season and then find their way to other places. The coasts of Macquarie Island in particular are filled with juvenile bull fur seals every year, which are still too young to claim territory. A few stray individuals have already made it to the coast of New Caledonia .
Inventory development
The large colonies on the Australian and Tasmanian coasts were completely destroyed at the end of the 18th century. The seal hunters then continued the mass slaughter in New Zealand, where all colonies were destroyed by 1825. Few fur seals survived in caves that were inaccessible to the seal hunters. The population on New Zealand's coasts now comprises 60,000 animals again and is growing every year. In recent times there have been isolated youngsters on New Zealand's North Island , which could mean that the distribution area is also being expanded geographically.
The population in Australia is estimated at 35,000 animals. There the New Zealand fur seal has a larger geographical distribution area, but the individual colonies are less extensive.
Hazard and protection
The New Zealand Fur Seal is in the Red List of Threatened Species of the World Conservation Union as not endangered (IUCN Least Concern out). Nevertheless, like all species of its genus Arctocephalus, it is listed in the Washington Convention on CITES, Appendix II, which protects it from unrestricted trade worldwide. This attitude is adopted by the European Union in the EU Species Protection Regulation (EC) No. 338/97 Appendix B, whereby all EU member states are automatically obliged to protect. This is reflected in the Federal Republic of Germany in the Federal Nature Conservation Act , where the species is designated as particularly protected.
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . 6th Ed. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore et al. a. 1999, ISBN 0801857899 .
Web links
- New Zealand fur seal outlook photo gallery
- Arctocephalus forsteri in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2010. Posted by: Goldsworthy, S. & Gales, N. (IUCN SSC Pinniped Specialist Group), 2008. Accessed April 25 of 2010.
- The CITES Appendices. Retrieved January 10, 2010 (English, The Appendixes of the Washington Convention on Species Conservation, CITES).
- WISIA Tracing Service for Endangered Species. In: WISIA Online. German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, accessed on January 10, 2010 .