Head to head
South African Fur Seal vs Antarctic Fur Seal
The South African fur seal and Antarctic fur seal both form some of the largest fur seal colonies on Earth, but their population histories reveal two very different paths to today's abundance.
| South African Fur Seal | Antarctic Fur Seal | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Arctocephalus pusillus | Arctocephalus gazella |
| Range | Southern Africa and southern Australia | Southern Ocean, mainly South Georgia |
| Historical population low | Reduced but never near extinction | Pushed to the brink of extinction |
| Current abundance | Large colonies, tens of thousands | Millions, one of the most abundant seals |
| Primary historical threat | Fur and oil hunting | Fur hunting |
| Conservation status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Population trend | Increasing | Increasing |
| Diet | Carnivore | Carnivore |
South African Fur Seal vs Antarctic Fur Seal: common questions
Which fur seal recovered from a more severe population decline?
The Antarctic fur seal experienced the far more severe historical decline, pushed to the very brink of extinction by intensive 18th and 19th century hunting before rebounding to become one of the most abundant seals in the Southern Ocean, while the South African fur seal was reduced but never approached true near-extinction.
Why does the South African fur seal have such a widely split range?
This species is split into two recognised subspecies occupying widely separated ranges, one along the coast of southern Africa and another along the coast of southern Australia, a distribution that reflects the species' historical spread across two distant regions of the Southern Hemisphere.
How large can these two fur seals’ colonies get?
Both species form some of the largest fur seal breeding colonies documented anywhere, with the South African fur seal gathering tens of thousands of individuals along favoured coastlines and the Antarctic fur seal forming similarly massive colonies concentrated primarily around South Georgia and other subantarctic islands.