There is a rising need to protect the Fur Seal pups of Namibia as they are to prone to too much danger as you'll see in the petition below. The Seals of Nam, an organization championing for the protection of the seals in Namibia is now seeking signatories (sign the petition here) into a petition urging Mr.John Scanlon, the Secretary-General of CITES, to change the
status of the Cape Fur Seal from Appendix II to Appendix I.
According to The Seals of Nam;
" In 1972 the Cape Fur Seal was listed on Appendix II of the United
Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
It is the ONLY species of seal to be found on the African continent. It
has suffered a 97% loss of preferred habitat and has barely survived six
major mass die offs. Namibian government scientist Dr.JP Roux has
confirmed that between 95%-100% of all pups born in 1994 did not
survive. In 2004 the Cape Fur Seal suffered the largest mass die off of
any marine mammal in recorded history. An estimated 350 thousand animals
died.
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| Cute Cape Fur Seals |
To make matters worse, the Namibian government slaughters 80 000 nursing
pups by beating them to death with pick handles. A further 6 000 adult
bulls are shot so that their genitals may be exported to the East,
fueling the illegal trade in animal body parts for fake medicines and
aphrodisiacs.
In South Africa, the Cape Fur Seal is legally protected under the Seals
and Seabirds Protection Act. Namibian ombudsman Adv John Walters has
confirmed these seals have NO protection whatsoever in Namibia."
See the European Parliament's perspective here
