Aquarium Number 
PREPARED BY THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF THE AQUARIUM 
ZOOLOGICAL 
Iely” BULLETIN 
Number 44 
Published by the New York Zoological Society 
March, 1911 
THE FUR-SEAL. 
Illustrated with flash-light photographs, made in the N. Y. Aquarium. 
EVER perhaps in the history of natural 
science, conservation or international poli- 
ties, has any one species of animal attract- 
ed such persistent attention as has the Alaska 
Fur-Seal. The gradual but rapid diminution in 
the numbers of this extremely valuable fur-bear- 
ing animal is a matter for the greatest regret. 
The United States Government has full con- 
trol of the breeding grounds, and for many 
years only supernumerary males have been killed 
under government supervision for their fur. It 
has been found impossible thus far, however, to 
put a stop to the slaughter of the females on 
the high seas. The females, already pregnant, 
leave their suckling young on shore in the rook- 
eries and go long distances to sea in search of 
food. They are then killed by the pelagic seal- 
ers lving in wait for them, and the adult female 
and a developing embryo are destroyed and the 
young on shore left to starve. 
Only international agreement can prevent this 
wasteful process, and the United States Bureau 
of Fisheries, which has recently been given 
charge of the seal herds, is doing everything 
possible to prevent any waste on the breeding 
grounds. The 13,000 young male seals, taken 
by the government during the past season, were 
selected from the supernumerary males driven 
out of the breeding grounds by the successful 
males. 
The fact that the United States Govern- 
1 YOUNG FUR-SEAL: MALE. 
