Seal callouts in the Kaikoura region involving the Department of Conservation By Laura J. Boren. DOC Research & Development Series 297. 25 p.
What's it about? Department of Conservation (DOC) staff spend considerable time attending callouts relating to seals, primarily New Zealand fur seals (Arctocephalus forsteri), in the Kaikoura region of New Zealand. This study analyses DOC data on 630 seal-related callouts, relating to 801 incidents, between July 1995 and October 2004. The most common DOC response was 'check only' (65.9%), with 'no action' taken in only 3.5% of incidents. Most seal-related incidents occurred on the northern side of the Kaikoura Peninsula (44%), with tourists (34%) the most likely to report an incident. The majority of incidents reported were unexplained deaths of seals (40.9%), followed by entanglements (21.5%). Most incidents (97.5%) involved fur seals. Unexplained death accounted for 84.2% of fur seal mortalities; other causes of death included illness/injury (2.4%), vehicle and train strikes (10.6%), direct human harassment (1.4%), and dog attacks (0.5%). Over 97% of vehicle strikes were fatal. Entanglement accounted for 0.8% of fur seal deaths, with 1.7% of these incidents fatal. DOC responded to 89.5% of entanglement-related incidents, with a 39.5% success rate in releasing entangled fur seals. DOC callout reports provide useful information on the frequency, outcomes and location of different types of seal-related incidents and baseline data against which to monitor trends and allocate resources. More emphasis on understanding the causes of unexplained deaths would be beneficial for population management. Monitoring of mortalities associated with entanglements, illness and road-related incidents is required as human and seal populations continue to increase in the region.
The above new publication is now in press and can be downloaded from:
http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/science-and-technical/drds297entire.pdf
