Translation 2783

..... 124
The present mi,.rc,ers of truc :;outti :A!uericac_ fur seals (Arc.toeepiinlu::
australis j;ra.cilis) in the Atlantic coastal _-etr,iori is esti-
!,;ated at .icre than 100,000 (70,000 on trio coast an(_ islands of
Uruguay, more tl,a.zr 25,000 on trie Lobos Islands, and ar,ou-L ",000 or,
the islands off the coast, of Argentina`. it is believed t.ia1: the
Galapaaos population -contains more than 2,000,
nd the Palkland
Islands populltioir more than 20,000.
At present only Uruguay r,ialces any economic use of ti,e stocks
of fur sea,ls.
From 11,000 to 5,000 arc taken annually, r,ioütly bachelor
seals aged from one-and-a-half. to two years. The seal-iiuriting season
lasts from tire middle of July to the begin,_inE of September. We do
not know of any measures being taken to regrulate sez.l-huntin^; ti^,ere.
(Fie'. 30 j.
South African Fur Seal
(Arctoceohalus 3llsi1lus Nhr., 1776)
This seal is sligirtly larger than the South American fur seal
The body length of adult males exceeds 210 or.l.; tne weight
f:Luc'tuates, according to the season of the year, from 210 to ^15 kg.
Adult females are smaller than the males; their maximwn body length
is 180 cm, and their wei;;ht fluctuates between 1)0 and 115 kg. I.+ewborn
pups have a body length of more than 60 c,n and an average body
weight of about 7 kg.
The hair covering of large sexually-niature males is coarse,
dark-grey on the back and with a lighter tint on the'bel].y. The
fema,les r:tre grey-brown, with a lighter tint on the belly. The pups
are born with short darlc-brown fur, which is repla.ced by olive-e'rey
hair after the moult. Yearling South Africccn fur seals are of a
silver,y-grey colour ai'ter moulting.
The ran-e of South African fur seals (Fig. 31 j
inclucles the
southwest and south coasts of Africa wà.tl, tme adjacent islands from
Q 1 Co Alaoa :1^J^ on the SouChL.3i: 3):
Cape Cross on t,,-,e north (21 14 S. )^ Fur seal rookeries nave been
observed on i,t;rny rocky islands r.r.r,d coasts (Cape i;ro.,s, l;ird Iwlrlnd,
Lucleritz Bay, Long, lslands,
and Jacob,. Rocks, aeal
Island in Valse Bay, Quoi„ Rock, near Cape Ae;u1i,a.s, on :eal Island
in ]rôssel à:tn.y, and on the ..d.rd Islands near A1„oa fay The seal:r c.io
not usually rualce long rnirations, but durir,t, tc,.. period' of inten,^ive
feedinl, tt,cy are fa.irly widely distr.ibutcd w.i-:iiin t,_Lir rance. it