Translation 2783

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Little is known of th biology of•monk seals. . ïheir principal
habitats are solitary stretches of rocky or sandy-gravelly coasts on,
which they breed and moult. Their breeding p...,ried is - restricted. to
September and October, and the female usually prodùces a single pup.
Lactation lasts for about eight weeks, but evidently tne pups begin -
•o enter the water somewhat earlier, at the age of six or seven'weeks,
when they have completed ti‘e moult of their embryonic fur.
It is
• believed that the adults mate two months after the pups are born,
Gestation lasts for 11 months.
The seals' diet has not been adequately
studied, and its composition depends on the area in which the seals
live. .In the .131.ack Sea, for instance, the principal items in the diet
are mackerel, anchovies, and flatfish.
1?•
a . • e•
Fig. 40.
Puc. .10.. Pacupoir:pancilite epe;tineAutomopeNoro
ttaxa.
Range of the 1.:editerranean monk seal.
Roy '.: ' i) Spain. 2) CorSica. 3) Italy. 4) black Sea. 5)
Madeira. - 6) Desertas Islands. .7) Canary Islands. G) Cap Blanc.
9, Port Said. •
It is believed bhat tue present number of t.editerranean monk
seals may be estimated' at approximately 5,000. Current measures for
their conservation are unknown; the killing of them is prohibited
in th USSR.
West Indies a-Li Caribbean i.Lonk Seal
(Monachus tropi,calis Cray, 1u50,
rat) range of thin seal« is rentricteu'to the lahamas, Guadeloupe
Island, and small inlands in 'Lyle
ibboan Sea.
'
Gulf of Mexico -and tue Car-
.
ho reaLuren of Gneir morphology tti3 biQloy nave bon you