International Seal Day, the survival status of the seal population is increasingly worrying

March 1 is the International Seal Day, due to overfished and sea pollution, the number of seals in the population is now declining dramatically. To protect this rare animal, the Rescue Seal Foundation decided in 1983 that it would be the international Seal Day of March 1 each year. At present, there are 13 genera and 18 species of seals worldwide. Seals are a large mammals marine animals, life expectancy of about 30 years, 4 years old or 5 years old mature, each spring estrus.

The Shanghai zoo currently has spotted seals (Phocalargha), is the national level two protection animals, domestic distribution in the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, distributed abroad in Western Europe, the Baltic Sea, northern Soviet Union to Sibaja and North America along the coast. The seal body is spindle-shaped and weighs 20~30 kg. The whole body is short hair, the back is blue-gray, abdomen is yellow, with blue and black spots. The head is nearly round, the eye is big and round. No outer auricle. The kiss is short and wide, and the upper lip tentacles are long and coarse, and are rosary-shaped. The limbs are 5 toes, webbed between the toes, forming a fin-shaped, with sharp claws; the rear fin is large, extends backwards, and the tail is short and flat. The female has a pair of breasts. Hair color changes with age and season, the young Beast color deep, into the animal color light. The newborn has a protective layer of white fluff. Leopard seals live in the cold temperate ocean, in addition to litter, rest and hair-changing season to the ice, sand or reef, the rest of the time in the sea to swim, eat or play, is cold water ice-like rare fin feet. In the wild, spotted seals can usually be hundreds of clusters, staple fish, and eat crustaceans and squid; During pregnancy about 11 months, breeding period of more than pairs, more than 1 Aberdeen. The Broodstock and the young are composed of family groups, the female seals are cruel and the nursing is very strong. The leopard seals breed on the ice, and when the ice melts, the cubs begin to live independently in the water. Breeding period is not clustered, after the birth of the cubs, the formation of family groups, lactation, after the family group ended.
Due to the annual killing of human beings, especially the excessive harvesting of young animals, the replacement generation has been reduced year by year, endangering the ability of population continuity. The survival of the seal population is increasingly worrying, and its protection is particularly urgent.