Fur seals

The coat color of New Zealand fur seals is gray-brown. Males have a black mane. Their size reaches 250 cm and weighs 180 kg. Females with a size of 150 cm and weighing 70 kg are much smaller.

The Australian population is estimated at 35,000 animals. Here, the New Zealand fur seal has the most extensive distribution areas, but individual colonies are not as numerous as in New Zealand.

Large colonies on the Australian and Tasmanian coasts were almost completely destroyed in the late 19th century. After that, seal hunters continued their fishing in New Zealand, where all the colonies were destroyed until 1925. Only a few animals escaped death in caves inaccessible to hunters. Today, the number of New Zealand fur seals is 60,000 and is growing every year. In recent times, there have been cases of colonies being established on the northern island of New Zealand. This means that the range of cats is expanding again.

Outside of the mating season, New Zealand fur seals travel and meet elsewhere. First of all, the island of Macquarie is full of young males all year round, who are not yet able to claim their own territory. Some lost individuals were found on the shores of New Caledonia.

Today, the New Zealand fur seal lives mainly on the coast of the southern island of New Zealand, as well as on the south and west coasts of Australia. Its colonies are also found in the sub-Antarctic sub-Antarctic Islands, the Auckland Archipelago, the Bounty Islands, the Chatham Archipelago and the Campbell Islands. Several hundred New Zealand fur seals live on the south coast of Tasmania.