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The Cape Fur Seal (also known as the South African Fur Seal and the Australian Fur Seal) is a species of fur seal. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. ...
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Least Concern (LC) is an IUCN category assigned to extant species or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. ...
Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ...
“Animalia†redirects here. ...
Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ...
Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria Mammals (class Mammalia) are warm-blooded, vertebrate animals characterized by the production of milk in female mammary glands and the presence of hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex region in the...
Families 17, See classification The diverse order Carnivora (IPA: or IPA: ; from Latin carÅ (stem carn-) flesh, + vorÄre to devour) includes over 260 placental mammals. ...
subfamilies Otariidae Phocidae Odobenidae Pinnipeds are large marine mammals belonging to the Pinnipedia, a family (sometimes a suborder or superfamily, depending on the classification scheme) of the order Carnivora. ...
Genera Callorhinus Arctocephalus Fur seals make up one of the two distinct groups of mammals called seals. Both the fur seals and the true seals are members of the Pinnipedia, which is usually regarded as a suborder of the order Carnivora but sometimes as an independent order. ...
Species Arctocephalus gazella Arctocephalus townsendi Arctocephalus philippii Arctocephalus galapagoensis Arctocephalus pusillus Arctocephalus forsteri Arctocephalus tropicalis Arctocephalus australis The genus Arctocephalus consists of eight of the nine species of fur seal. ...
In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. ...
Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber (1739 - 1810) was a German naturalist. ...
Year 1775 (MDCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ...
Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 320 pixelsFull resolution (810 × 324 pixel, file size: 8 KB, MIME type: image/png) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Genera Callorhinus Arctocephalus Fur seals, or Arctocephalinae make up one of the two distinct groups of marine mammals called seals. Fur seals are usually smaller than sea lions and have a coat of dense fur intermixed with guard hairs. ...
Physcial description The Cape fur seal has a large broad head and a pointed snout. Males are brown to dark gray with a darker mane and a light underside. They grow up to 2.2m (7ft) and weigh around 200-360 kg (440-800lb). Females are gray to light brown with a dark underside and light throat. They grow up to 1.7m (5ft) and weigh on average 120kg (260lbs). Pups are black at birth but turn grey with a pale throat after molting.
Distribution and habitat The Cape Fur Seal (A. p. pusillus) is found along the coast of Namibia and along the west coast of South Africa to the Cape of Good Hope and the Cape Province. Its Australian subspecies breeds on nine islands in the Bass Strait between Tasmania and Victoria. The Cape of Good Hope; looking towards the west, from the coastal cliffs above Cape Point. ...
Under the Union of South Africa and after that under the Republic of South Africa, the old Cape Colony became the Cape of Good Hope Province (though it was commonly known as the Cape Province). ...
Map of Australia with Bass Strait marked in light blue Bass Strait (IPA: ) is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland (Victoria in particular). ...
Capital Hobart Government Constitutional monarchy Governor William Cox Premier Paul Lennon (ALP) Federal representation - House seats 5 - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05) - Product ($m) $16,114 (7th) - Product per capita $33,243/person (8th) Population (End of September 2006) - Population 489,600 (6th) - Density 7. ...
Capital Melbourne Government Constitutional monarchy Governor David de Kretser Premier Steve Bracks (ALP) Federal representation - House seats 37 - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05) - Product ($m) $222,022 (2nd) - Product per capita $44,443/person (5th) Population (End of September 2006) - Population 5,110,500 (2nd) - Density 22. ...
Both subspecies mostly haul out and breed on rocky islands, rock ledges or reefs and pebble or boulder beaches. However South African Fur Seals have large breeding sites on sandy beaches in South Africa, and a non-breeding group regularly hauls out on a sandy beach in Cape Fria in northern Nambia.
Foraging
 Closeup of a Cape fur seal Cape fur seals feed mostly on boney fish as well as cephalopods, crustaceans and even birds. The Australian subspecies forages at the bottom of the continental shelf while the African subspecies forages in the open ocean. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
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Orders Subclass Nautiloidea †Plectronocerida †Ellesmerocerida †Actinocerida †Pseudorthocerida †Endocerida †Tarphycerida †Oncocerida †Discosorida Nautilida †Orthocerida †Ascocerida †Bactritida Subclass †Ammonoidea †Goniatitida †Ceratitida †Ammonitida Subclass Coleoidea †Belemnoidea †Aulacocerida †Belemnitida †Hematitida †Phragmoteuthida Neocoleoidea (most living cephalopods) ?†Boletzkyida Sepiida Sepiolida Spirulida Teuthida Octopoda Vampyromorphida The cephalopods (Greek plural (kephalópoda); head-foot) are the mollusk class...
Classes & Subclasses Branchiopoda Phyllopoda Sarsostraca Remipedia Cephalocarida Maxillopoda Thecostraca Tantulocarida Branchiura Pentastomida Mystacocarida Copepoda Ostracoda Myodocopa Podocopa Malacostraca Phyllocarida Hoplocarida Eumalacostraca The nauplius larva of a dendrobranchiate Porcellio scaber, the common rough woodlouse, a terrestrial crustacean Pollicipes polymerus, the gooseneck barnacle Glyphea pseudastacus, a fossil glypheoid The crustaceans (Crustacea) are...
Sediment Rock Mantle The global continental shelf, highlighted in cyan The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent, which is covered during interglacial periods such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas (known as shelf seas) and gulfs. ...
Behavior and reproduction Although cape fur seals normally travel alone, large group of theses seals can be seen rafting in kelp beds. Pregnant females will stay 7 weeks away from the land before the breeding season. Insert non-formatted text hereLink title Families Alariaceae Chordaceae Laminariaceae Lessoniaceae Phyllariaceae Pseudochordaceae For other uses, see Kelp (disambiguation). ...
Cape fur seals breed in mid-October. Unlike most eared seal species, females are free to choose their mate and he is judged based on the value of his territory. Both males and female defend her territory from individuals of the same sex. Females have smaller territories and a male's territory may overlap that of several females. A harem may consist of 50 females for one male.
Pups are usually born between late November and early December. After they are born the females start to mate with their harem leaders. The female spends the next several month foraging at sea and nursing her pup, who is weaned at four months old. The pups begin swimming at an early age and the time they spend in the water increases as the pup learns more. By seven months the pup can already swim for two to three days at a time.
The Cape fur seal's main predator is the Great white shark. In False Bay, the seals employ a number of anti-predatory strategies while in shark-infested waters such as: Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
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Binomial name (Linnaeus, 1758) Range (in blue) The great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, also known as white pointer, white shark, or white death, is an exceptionally large lamniforme shark found in coastal surface waters in all major oceans. ...
The Cape Peninsula, False Bay (top) and Table Bay,with Robben Island (right), from space, February 1995. ...
- Swimming in groups large groups
- Low porpising; to increase sub-surface vigilance
- When a shark attacks a group, the seals would dart in different directions to cause confusion.
- When being chased by a shark, a seal would ride near the dorsal fin to keep out of reach of the shark's jaws.
Human interactions
 Australian Fur Seal - photograph by John Catsoulis The Cape Fur Seal is an inquisitive and friendly animal when in the water and will often accompany SCUBA divers. They will swim around divers for periods of several minutes at a time, even at a depth of 60m. On land they are far less relaxed and tend to panic when people come near them. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 429 pixelsFull resolution (1616 × 866 pixel, file size: 124 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Picture of an Australian Fur Seal, Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus, uploaded to en Wiki with the following desciptive text: Australian Fur Seal - photograph by John Catsoulis...
Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 429 pixelsFull resolution (1616 × 866 pixel, file size: 124 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Picture of an Australian Fur Seal, Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus, uploaded to en Wiki with the following desciptive text: Australian Fur Seal - photograph by John Catsoulis...
Australian Fur seals were hunted greatly between 1798 and 1825 for commercial reasons. Seal hunting stopped in Australia in 1923 and their population is still recovering. Breeding and haulout sites are protected by law. However the Tasmanian government authorized the killing of "nuisance" fur seals in October 2000.
South African fur seals have a very robust and healthy population despite annual harvesting.
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