Prey and Predators
Caspian seals feed on cyprinids, gobies, and crustaceans. The seals may enter river estuaries to eat carp, roach and pike-perch.
Sea eagles are known to hunt these seals, which results in a high number of fatalities for the juveniles. They are also hunted by humans for subsistence and commerce. Due to the increasing industrial development in the surrounding region, pollutants and pesticides have entered the Caspian and caused significant habitat problems, weakened immune systems and contributed to disease outbreaks.
In a three week period in February 1978, wolves were responsible for the wanton killing of numerous seals near Astrakhan. Between 17-40% of the seals in the area were estimated to have been killed, but not eaten.
Since the late 1990s, there have been several cases of many Caspian seals dying due to canine distemper virus.
A century ago there were an estimated 1.5 million seals; by the 1980s, there were about 400,000.
Read more about this topic: Caspian Seal
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