New Zealand Fur Seal
(Arctocephalus forsteri)
| Distribution and Numbers New Zealand fur seals are found in both New Zealand and Australia, with only a very limited exchange of individuals between these countries. |
| New Zealand: The species is found at many locations around New Zealand's rocky coastline, mostly on the southern shores of the country's South Island and on many of the offshore and subantarctic islands. Population estimates for the species in New Zealand are not complete, but it is thought that the total population, which seems to be increasing, exceeds 50,000 adults. The Bounty Islands, southeast of the main islands, are home to the largest fur seal concentration recorded in New Zealand, with an estimated 21,500 seals in 1994. Other important rookeries are found in the Open Bay Islands, Cape Foulwind, Cascade Point, Wekakura Point, the Otago Peninsula, the Nelson-northern Marlborough region, Fjordland and the islands of the Foveaux Strait. Three small rookeries have also been established on the North Island in recent years. |  Photo: Liz Poon, CSIRO Wildlife and Ecology |
| Australia: A
survey of every New Zealand fur seal rookery in Australia carried out around 1990
concluded that there was an increasing population of about 34,600, ranging from The Pages
Islands in South Australia to Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia, and including a small
number off the south coast of Tasmania. An area around Kangaroo Island in South Australia
produces about three quarters of the total pups in Australia, the Neptune Islands being
the most productive breeding site. There are also large numbers of young non-breeding male
fur seals, which are thought to come from the New Zealand population, found on Australia's
subantarctic Macquarie Island and a few pups have been born there in recent years. The
colonies in Australia tend to be more widespread and have fewer seals than those in New
Zealand. |
| Status The New Zealand fur seal is listed as an Appendix II species under CITES. |
| New Zealand: New Zealand fur seals were hunted by Polynesians and later by Europeans for almost 1,000 years. During the 18th and 19th centuries they were nearly hunted to extinction by the fur trade but are now protected under New Zealand's Marine Mammals Protection Act and are beginning to re-colonise areas in their pre-exploitation range. |
| One problem faced by the species is entanglement and drowning in the nets of trawl fisheries taking place near fur seal rookeries, haulouts and foraging areas. The worst offender is the South Island's west coast hoki trawl fishery which killed an estimated total of greater than 5,600 New Zealand fur seals between 1989 and 1998 (1,032 during the 1997-1998 season), the largest catch in one trawl net being 23 fur seals. The 1999 season saw a substantial reduction in the estimated number of fur seals killed by the fishery to 215 but the reasons for this are not yet known. Fur seals are also drowned in the nets of the southern blue whiting trawl fishery around the Bounty Islands, the Snares Island shelf squid fishery, the Puysegur hoki fishery and the jack mackerel trawl fishery off the west coast of the South Island. Data collated in a report by one environmental group showed that an estimated total of greater than 10,000 New Zealand fur seals were drowned in trawl nets in New Zealand's fisheries between 1989 and 1998 (1,534 during the 1997-1998 season). Populations of several fur seal colonies on the west coast of New Zealand's South Island, adjacent to the hoki fishery, are reported to have been declining over the last few years. |
| Conflicts between New Zealand fur seals and aquaculture installations have been reported. In February 2001 the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DoC) declined an application by one company to capture fur seals near its salmon farms in the Marlborough Sounds and to transport them to other locations around the South Island. The DoC concluded that the process would have a negative impact on the seals and be detrimental to their welfare. Conservation organisations welcomed the decision, stressing their belief that the best long-term solution to seals eating salmon in aquaculture cages is the installation of effective seal-proof netting or similar physical barriers. The DoC was also urged to oppose the siting of new salmon farms near fur seal haulout sites. |
| A 20km Marine Mammal Sanctuary exists around the Auckland Islands, part of the New Zealand fur seal's range, which was set up primarily to protect the New Zealand sea lion (Phocarctos hookeri). New Zealand's subantarctic islands were granted UNESCO "World Heritage" status in 1998. |
 Photo: Liz Poon, CSIRO Wildlife and Ecology |
Australia: Many tens of thousands of New Zealand fur seals were slaughtered in Australia by the fur trade before the species was finally protected from hunting due to its near extinction. The fur seals have been protected, along with other seal species, in South Australia since 1919, in Western Australia since 1892 and by national legislation since 1975. New Zealand fur seals on World Heritage listed Macquarie Island were afforded additional protection in 2000 by the creation of a new federal 16 million hectare Marine Park on the eastern side of the island. The Tasmanian government also announced in 2000 an extension to the Macquarie Island Nature Reserve to cover all Tasmanian waters out to three nautical miles surrounding the island. |
| Seals that interfere with fishing gear are often shot by commercial and recreational fishermen, but the extent of this is unknown. A small number of seals become entangled in fishing and shark nets, and interactions with fisheries are expected to increase as the fur seal population expands. A commercial fisherman in New South Wales applied for a licence in January 2000 to shoot New Zealand fur seals and Australian fur seals which shared his fishing grounds around Montague Island. Officials said however that there was very little chance of the licence being granted due to the seals' worth to the local economy through ecotourism, the ineffectiveness of such killing and the danger to the public of any shooting. Concerns have also recently been raised about the siting of fish farms near fur seal haulouts or feeding areas. |
| It was revealed in June 2000 that the Australian federal government was to allow two ships trawling off Tasmania to kill up to 30 New Zealand fur seals and Australian fur seals each in their nets during the forthcoming season, a measure taken in response to the two ships together killing almost 90 fur seals in 1999. The killing of fur seals in trawl nets has been deemed unacceptable by environmental groups who are pushing, among other measures, for the development of effective marine mammal exclusion devices in the trawl nets. |
| In February 1991 a spill of heavy fuel oil in Western Australia
resulted in the contamination of 200 pups at Hood Island and Seal Rocks in the Recherche
Archipelago, but these were captured and cleaned. |
| Lifestyle Breeding colonies tend to be in rocky places where there are large boulders, caves, crevices, rocky platforms or other cover for the pups. There is also a preference for areas near sheltered water or intertidal pools. The breeding colonies in Australia are situated on islands. |
| Breeding males begin competing with each other by November to establish their territories where they will eventually gather up to a maximum of 16, but seldom more than 7, females. Adult females, being very faithful to their usual pupping site, begin arriving in late November and give birth 2-3 days after hauling out. Most pups are born between early December and early January, the females mating about 7-8 days after giving birth. Pups are born with a coat of long black hair which at 2-3 months is replaced by shorter greyish brown hair. This coat will eventually develop into the adult dark brown coat. |
| Between 6-12 days after a pup is born its mother starts going to sea to feed, alternately spending an average of 3 days, but sometimes up to 8 days, at sea and spending between 2-7 days ashore nursing her pup. The feeding trips lengthen as the pup gets older. The mother nurses her pup for up to 300 days before leaving the rookery, for what is thought to be an extended feeding trip, and then returning to give birth. Females and pups can be found at the rookeries year-round. The adult males remain ashore and do not feed for up to 2 months during the breeding season, most returning to the sea by mid-January. Immature seals and non-breeding adults tend to stay away from the rookeries during the breeding season. Moulting takes place from February to March. |  Photo: Nathan McNally, University of Otago |
| New Zealand: Bulls and adolescent males in New Zealand usually disperse to other areas, very possibly selected for their abundance of good prey, after the breeding season. Individuals of both sexes are known to be opportunistic feeders and feed mainly on cephalopods such as arrow squid and fish such as anchovy, lanternfish and hoki, occasionally eating penguins at the subantarctic islands. They may be preyed upon by sharks, killer whales, leopard seals and New Zealand sea lions. |
| Australia: There
is little information on the dispersal and diet of New Zealand fur seals in Australia, but
on Kangaroo Island they are known to prey principally on fish (especially during the
winter), cephalopods (especially during the summer) and, to a lesser extent, penguins.
Sharks are known to be predators of the New Zealand fur seal in Australia. |
| Statistics Adult males measure 1.5-2.5m in length and can weigh 120-180kg, while most adult females are 1-1.5m in length and weigh between 30-50kg. Pups are 55-70cm long at birth, the male pups slightly heavier than the female pups at an average 3.9kg compared to 3.3kg. One study showed pup mortality during the first 300 days to be about 40%. Adult fur seals have been known to dive to depths over 270m. Females mature and bear their first pup at about 4-5 years of age. Males mature at roughly the same age but do not attain territorial status until about 9-10 years of age. Evidence suggests that females can live up to about 12 years of age, males to 15 years. |
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