130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

Scale Status Population trend Justification Threats
Global Least Concern Stable Large stable or increasing population 1. Competition with humans (entanglement, by-catch
and overfishing of prey species)
2. Climate change
3. Overexploitation
4. Disease
5. Pollution
6. Development
Europe Least Concern Unknown Large population size
Increasing population
1. Competition with humans (entanglement, by-catch
and overfishing of prey species)
2. Overexploitation
3. Disease
4. Pollution
Europe –
regional
populations
Endangered:
Sweden
(Baltic) [20]
Vulnerable:
Norway [21]
Near
Threatened:
France [22] N/A N/A N/A
Habitat preferences and general densities
Harbour seals are found in more sheltered coastal
waters [14] . Haul-out sites cover a variety of habitats
such as rocks, sand and shingle beaches, sand
bars, mud flats, man-made structures, glacial ice,
and occasionally sea-ice [1] . Unless habituated to
humans, Harbour seals are naturally wary, fleeing
into the water on approach [1] . Population density
varies greatly, depending on habitat and food
availability and, in some areas, the level of human
disturbance.
Legal protection and conservation status
In Europe, Harbour seals are protected under the
EC Habitats Directive (Annexes II and V) [15] , and
the Bern Convention (Appendix III) [16] . Subpopulations
in the Baltic and Wadden Seas are listed
under the Convention of Migratory Species
(Appendix II) [17] . Hunting is prohibited in the
Wadden Sea area [2] and this population is managed
according to the Trilateral Seal Management Plan
(SMP) adopted by the Netherlands, Germany
and Denmark at the Leeuwarden Conference in
1994 [18] . The only countries that allow hunting are
Norway and Iceland, where the estimated annual
catch is between 5,000 and 7,000 individuals [2] . In
Svalbard, however, the Harbour seal population is
included in the Norwegian Red List and completely
protected [1] . In the United Kingdom, licenses
for shooting seals are issued for the purposes
of protecting the fisheries [1] , although there are
significant differences in legislation between
England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (in
some areas, seals can be shot without a licence at
certain times of the year) [19] . The global IUCN Red
List categorises the Harbour seal as Least Concern
because the population is large, and either stable
or increasing (Table 1). In Europe, the species is
also listed as Least Concern with an unknown
population trend, while some regional populations
are Near Threatened, Vulnerable or Endangered
(Table 1).
Abundance and distribution:
current status
In 2008, the size of the world’s Harbour seal
population was between 350,000 and 500,000
individuals, with the European population
accounting for just over 81,000 or a minimum of
18% of these (Table 2). The largest European populations
occur in waters around the United Kingdom
(32%), the Wadden Sea (22%), the Kattegat, Skagerrak
& Lijmfjorden area (16%) and Iceland (15%).
Approximately 32% of European Harbour seals
are found in the United Kingdom, a decrease
from 40% in 2002 [3] . The species is widespread
on the west coast and northern isles of Scotland
and on the southeast coast of England [3] . On the
Table 1.
Summary of Global
and European Red
List assessments and
threats listed for the
Harbour seal [1, 14] .
Estimate Year assessed Reference
Global 350,000–500,000 2008
[1]
Europe 80,648 1996–2010
[23]
% of global population >16%
Wadden Sea 18,000 2010
[23]
Kattegat, Skagerrak & Lijmfjorden 12,750 2007–8
[23]
Baltic 1,350 2008
[23]
United Kingdom (England,
Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland)
25,943 2007–10*
[23]
Republic of Ireland 2,905 2003
[23]
Iceland 12,000 2006
[23]
Norway 6,700 2006
[23]
Svalbard >1,000 2010
[24]
* (Northern Ireland: 2002)
Table 2.
Latest population
estimates for
the Harbour seal
globally, in Europe,
and for European
sub-populations.
Please note that all
estimates represent
the number of seals
counted, not the
population size
estimated from these
counts.
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