Guadalupe fur seal
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Guadalupe fur seal ( Arctocephalus townsendi ) |
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| Arctocephalus townsendi | ||||||||||||
| Merriam , 1897 |
The Guadalupe fur seal ( Arctocephalus townsendi ) is the rarest species of the southern fur seal .
features
Males reach a length of 2 m, females are 1.4 m long. The weight is 140 or 50 kg. In appearance these fur seals resemble the other representatives of their kind.
distribution
Dark blue: permanent colony on Guadalupe.
Light blue: migrating individuals on the Channel Islands and on Cedros
The largest colonies of this seal are located on the island of Guadalupe, which belongs to Mexico (off Baja California ). It is believed that there were earlier colonies of this type on numerous islands off the west coast of North America. Since 1995 it has gradually spread to other islands. There is a small, growing colony on the San Benito Islands, which are closer to the coast of Baja California. In 1997 the youngsters were reared on the island of San Miguel, part of the Channel Islands .
Inventory development
The colony on Guadalupe originally consisted of over 100,000 seals; in the 19th century fur seals were killed en masse for their fur. After the last seals were killed in 1894 , the species was declared extinct; Today it is believed that fur seals survived unnoticed in the caves along the coast in the following years. In any case, two fur seals were caught by fishermen again in 1928 and given to the San Diego Zoo ; after that it was not until 1949 that a wild sea dog was found again, and from 1954 there was again a colony on Guadalupe. The Guadalupe fur seal is now strictly protected by Mexican law, and the island of Guadalupe is a seal sanctuary. So the colony could grow again to 7000 fur seals. Outside of breeding season, Guadalupe fur seals are found even on the California Channel Islands , where they mingle with Northern fur seals.
Hazard and protection
The Guadalupe fur seal is listed as Least Concern in the Red List of Endangered Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN ).
According to Appendix I, the trade in this species is prohibited as a directly threatened species via the Washington Convention on the Protection of Species .
The European Union provides the Guadalupe fur seal with the EU species protection regulation 338/97 Appendix A to the species endangered by trade worldwide. It adopts the CITES diction and places a trade ban on the species. In addition, this EU regulation has direct influence on all EU member states.
The Federal Republic of Germany identifies the Guadalupe fur seal as strictly protected in the Federal Nature Conservation Act.
swell
Individual evidence
- ^ The CITES Appendices. Retrieved on January 8, 2010 (English, The Appendixes of the Washington Convention on Species Conservation).
Web links
- Photos of Guadalupe fur seals
- Arctocephalus townsendi in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2009. Posted by: Aurioles, D. & Trillmich, F. (IUCN SSC Pinniped Specialist Group), 2008. Retrieved on January 8 of 2010.
- WISIA Tracing Service for Endangered Species. In: WISIA Online. German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, accessed on January 8, 2010 .
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 (English).