Grey Seal
Grey Seal is distributed in North Atlantic waters. It occurs in Belgium, Canada, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, United Kingdom and United States. The numbers are increasing. Main threats include hunting, by-catch mortality in fishing nets, exposure to agricultural pollutants as well as oil spills.
Conservation
■ Within EAZA, captive population data are recorded in European Studbook since 2000. The studbook is kept by Warsaw Zoo.
■ Baltic Sea populations of Grey Seal are listed in Appendix II of Bonn Convention, as a migratory species what conservation and management requires international cooperation.
■ Listed in Appendix III of Bern Convention, as a protected fauna species in Europe.
■ Listed in Annexes II and V of EU Habitats and Species Directive.
■ An especially protected species in Latvia (the Cabinet of Ministers’ Regulations No. 396 on November 14, 2000).
More about Seals at Riga Zoo:
Taxonomy
■ Phylum Chordata – chordates
■ Class Mammalia – mammals
■ Order Pinnipedia – pinnipeds, or seals
■ Family Phocidae – true seals
■ Species Halichoerus grypus – Grey Seal