Canada kicks off annual hunt for baby seals
Each spring the entire Northwest Atlantic harp seal population migrates to
the East Coast of Newfoundland to mate, give birth and nurse their young. In one
of nature’s great wildlife spectacles, thousands of seals are born on the
pristine ice floes off eastern Canada in early March.
The hunt begins in late March when the seal pups are weaned from their
mother and begin to moult. Seal pups may be legally killed once they begin to
moult their fluffy white coats, usually at 12-14 days old.
IFAW is the only organization in the world to consistently observe and document the hunt each year. For the last 36 years IFAW has brought media and government officials from around the world to view the hunt firsthand. This year, European parliamentarians and media from around the globe are observing the hunt with IFAW’s help.
The international community is appalled by the cruelty of Cananda’s hunt for
baby seals. In opposition, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands are creating
legislation to ban seal products and the U.S. and the European Council are
creating resolutions condemning the hunt. In the U.S. seals and other marine
mammals have been protected from hunting since 1972 under the Marine Mammal
Protection Act.
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