World

Global warming endangers seal pups

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-03-28 09:45

International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) researcher Sheryl Fink observes seals and poor ice condition off the coast of eastern Canada March 27, 2007. The first stage of Canada's controversial annual harp seal hunt is likely to be scrapped because the ice floes where pups are born have broken up and many animals have drowned, officials and animal rights activists said on Tuesday. Scientists estimate that hundreds of thousands of seal pups will perish this year due to rising temperatures that have melted the ice on which seal pups survive during their first weeks of life. [Reuters]