STOP-THE-AFRICAN-SEAL-HUNT



Along the oldest desert coastline in the world and the least populated country on earth has raged a non-traditional foreign inspired slaughter which has become known as the 'Last Baby Seal Hunt on Earth'. It has been this way since 1940. So cruel and against the laws of nature and every known modern method of harvesting of a living wild animal. That it was banned in the USA in 1972 and the EU in 1983 and stopped by all the world's remaining sealing countries of Canada, Greenland, Norway or Russia in 1987.



The United Nations Environmental Protection agency through its United Nations Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) arm has controlled its 100\% exported trade since 1977 in South Africa and since 1991 in Namibia - Cape fur seal pups still remains the only Appendix II protected species to be exported and imported legally around the world.



Found nowhere else on earth, except along the coastline of southern Africa. Although commercial sealing of this species in its living breeding natural habitat - islands, has between 1486 and 1900, already driven this species close to extinction - and 98\% of its former breeding, birthing and nursing habitat remains extinct. South Africa only stopped its sealing practice in 1990.



Namibia now remains the only country on earth to round up nursing baby seals still suckling on their mother's milk, driving them in-land away from the safety of the sea, and as they attempt to flee alongside their mothers back to its safety are clubbed and stabbed to death by rows of as many as 100 part-time migrant workers - everyday between July 1 and November 15, each year. Vomiting up their mother's milk as they slowly die. On just two mainland seal colonies where 75\% of this species unnaturally remains. Where the Namibian government grants 3 sealing concession holders the right to club these protected wildlife seals to death.



Once totalling over 16 million or 3\% of the world's current cat and dog populations. The Cape fur seals are today 5 - 10\% of their former population. Each year between 50 - 100\% of its new-born are rounded up as they reach the age of 7-months and 15 kg's in weight and are clubbed to death viciously until dead. Millions upon millions have been slaughtered, not in this traditional age-old method, not by out of work fishermen, but in a method adapted from foreigners, who ventured to these shores not so long ago.



This region was once the most productive fisheries in the world. Within a decade the commercial harvest of fish species dropped from 1.387 million tons to 45 000 tons or 3\%. With it caused the start of mass abortions and starvation of this species of seal - where in 1988, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000 and 2001 - saw between one third to one half of this species starve to death each year.



The pelts of these baby fur seals is the most prized product of this species, its average traded international price is less than one USD dollar. Described also as the cruellest seal hunt on earth, it is also the most wasteful with 63\% of the weight of these pups and 75\% of the weight of these bulls, shot mainly for their genitals for the far east trade, is discarded - unless sold as cheap fish-meal to the livestock or pet-food industries at .30 cents a kg.



Although this species has declined over 50\% in the last decade and whose population is today lower than it was in 1982. The Namibian 2006 Sealing quota of 85 000 pups and 5000 bulls, the largest on record. Will see a total baby seal pup genocide of this species this year.



By adding your signature to this petition, you are voicing your international right to a protected marine environment and in so doing are asking Francois Hugo of Seal Alert-SA to do whatever is legally required to - Stop-The-African-Seal-Hunt.



For the Seals

Francois Hugo Seal Alert-SA