Our clients get to see some 80,000 to 100,000 Cape Fur Seals at close quarters. This is an experience of a lifetime. During October, large adult males haul out to establish breeding territories, and those that do, stay for six weeks or more. The bulls expend considerable energy reserves and lose weight establishing and maintaining territories, herding females and fighting other males. A single pup is born in late November or early December and during a 34 - day period, 90% of the pups are born. The black pups suckle soon after birth and the females remain with it for the first week. This close association establishes a strong maternal bond between the pup and its mother. The initial bonding period is very important as it enables her and the pup to identify one another amongst the thousands of other seals. Without milk from the females, the pup's chances of survival are virtually nil. When they are separated the mother bellows for her pup and miraculously they find one another.
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