About White-coat Caspian Seal Pups in Iran

© Published online by Cambridge University Press on 26 April 2023.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S003060532200148X.
Amir S. Shirazi (1), Ali T. Qashqaei (1) *, Samaneh Faezi (1), Seyedreza Khaleghi (1), Nikta Moghaddamipour (1), Tara Ebrahimi (1), Shadi Karbalaei Hassan (1), B. Louise Chilvers (2).
(1) Caspian Seal Conservation Center, Gorgan, Iran.
(2) School of Veterinary Science, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
* Corresponding author: a.t.qashqaei@gmail.com (Ali T. Qashqaei).

First confirmed records of white-coat pups of the Endangered Caspian seal Pusa caspica on the coast of Iran

Abstract

The endemic Caspian seal Pusa caspica breeds on land-fast ice or stable drift ice in the northern Caspian Sea. Breeding has rarely been reported in the ice-free south-eastern Caspian Sea. Five carcasses of white-coat Caspian seal pups were recovered from the southern Caspian Sea, Iran, during 2019–2022. From survey interviews, two white-coat Caspian seal pups were also observed in Amirabad and between Ghorogh and Rudsar. These records represent very late pupping dates compared to normal pupping periods. Coastal Iran should be surveyed annually for Caspian seal pups to determine frequency of breeding and areas of importance identified in the Iran Caspian Seal Action Plan.

Download the paper  Shirazi et al, 2023.